About Mark Di Suvero
Mark di Suvero’s work has helped to shape our notion of modern sculpture. His largescale, spatially dynamic compositions, created using such industrial materials as steel I-beams and salvaged steel, reveal a masterful sense of form, composition, and movement, while also conveying poignant emotion and, frequently, a sense of play.
While other artists of di Suvero’s generation employ industrial fabricators to execute their designs on a large scale, di Suvero has compared his artistic process with physical labor. He executes and installs his sculptures himself, working with a small team of trusted workers. Di Suvero does not begin with preliminary drawings; much of his creative process occurs during the process of welding, bending and bolting together his works. Di Suvero has spoken of his use of the industrial crane as a way of extending his arm, as though allowing him to paint with an oversized brush.
Di Suvero’s connection to contemporary culture is evident in both his sculpture and his working practice. Steel—the basis of modern manufacture and production—has been his primary medium since the late 1960s. But while
steel is habitually used in industry in a straightforward and impersonal manner, di Suvero Instead enlivens and invigorates the material: he transforms it into whimsical, organic forms, and creates sculptures with precisely balanced, often moving, elements. Di Suvero elevates steel to high art, and subverts the material’s presumed utilitarian purpose; in so doing he Carves out a place for art and contemplation within the industrial world.
The 2011-2012 seasons of Mark di Suvero at Governors Island: Presented by Storm King Art Center are made possible by generous lead support from: the Charina Endowment Fund; Roberta and Steve Denning; The Fisher Family; Agnes Gund; Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey H. Loria; Susan and Lew Manilow; and the Ralph E. Ogden Foundation, Inc.
Additional major support provided by: Gretchen and John Berggruen; Deutsche Bank; the Irene Diamond Fund; Gabrielle H. Reem, M.D. and Herbert J. Kayden, M.D.; the Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art; Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger; Anne and Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Smith; and the Vance Wall Foundation.
Additional funding provided by: Jayne and Leonard Abess; The Ashforth Company; Irma and Norman Braman; David Reed Broida; Ann and Herbert Burger; Calvin and Jane Cafritz; Paula Cooper; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP; The Goldie Anna Charitable Trust; Pam and Tim Hill; the Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation; the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund; The Lipman Family Foundation; Ralph and Becky O'Connor; the Ohnell Family Foundation; Jim and Mary Ottaway; The Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation; The Pincus Family Foundation; Mary L. Robinson; Patsy and Jeff Tarr; the Toby D. Lewis Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland; Rolly van Rappard; Virginia B. Wright.
The exhibition is organized by Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, NY.
