Richard Artschwager

The American artist Richard Artschwager is a major figure in contemporary sculpture. One of his early jobs was the design and manufacture of modern furniture, from 1953 to the late 1960s. This was the inspiration for his works in formica, which could be seen as pieces of furniture, sculptures, or a reproduction of both.

He was fascinated by the idea of confusing genres and playing with perception. He applied this same conceptual approach to painting and drawing. His first exhibition took place at the Art Directions Gallery in New York in 1959. It was followed in 1965 by the first of several solo exhibitions with Leo Castelli. The late 1960s marked the conception of his “blps” (pronounced 'blips'), enlarged punctuation marks that evinced his growing taste for linguistic references. In 1968, Artschwager's first solo exhibition in Europe, at the Konrad Fischer Gallery in Düsseldorf, was centred around the blps. Over time, his materials of choice, wood, formica and Celotex (a textured compound board) were supplemented with new materials, including mirrors, that enabled him to achieve a more tactile effect.