Mark di Suvero

Paula Cooper Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of large-scale sculptures and paintings by Mark di Suvero.

Since his first New York exhibition at the Green Gallery in 1960, di Suvero has astounded audiences with his strong, monumentally-scaled sculpture made from salvaged metals. Reviewing di Suvero’s very first exhibition for Arts in 1960, Donald Judd described the size and force of di Suvero’s sculpture as “thunderous,” an adjective that is equally applicable to the new work di Suvero continues to produce today.[1]

Almost fifteen feet high, Sooner or Later (2022) exemplifies di Suvero’s improvisatory process and ingenuity with steel. Incorporating a demolition claw and a hanging chain, the elegantly twisted, cut, and balanced fragments of metal reveal their past lives through peeling paint and graffiti. Sooner or Later is accompanied in the main gallery by Sprung Free (2020), a harmonious composition of red-hued steel beams and reflective stainless-steel on a stainless-steel base, decorated with curving and radiating grinding patterns. Another new sculpture, Family Portrait (2022-23), holds the front room. Here, three distinct vertical forms stand in a line, the cut steel shapes on the sides curving inwards towards the intricately entwined central coil in a gesture of containment. The form of the coil is echoed in the larger cut out shape beside it, further enhancing the formal implication of an intimate gathering.

Though best known for his constructions of steel and other industrial materials installed in public spaces around the world, di Suvero has also created, from the outset, a prolific number of paintings, drawings, and prints. Nova Diptych (1980–82) is a huge acrylic painting suspended within an L-shaped wooden armature. Designed for a corner, the three-dimensional painting envelops space similarly to di Suvero’s sculpture, while evincing his predilection for calligraphic shapes. Abundant with bold color and intricate patterning, di Suvero’s painting offers bi-dimensional foils to the majestic sculptural assemblages.

Born in China to Italian parents, Mark di Suvero (b. 1933, Shanghai) immigrated to the U.S. as a child aged eight. An internationally renowned artist and pioneer in the use of steel, di Suvero has created vibrant and dynamic works of sculpture and painting throughout his sixty-year career, fusing vitality and movement with complex construction. His work has been shown consistently in galleries and museums worldwide including exhibitions of outdoor sculpture in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and a number of cities in the United States. Public citywide shows have taken place in Paris, France; Venice, Italy; and New York City. Permanent installations of di Suvero’s sculpture are in Baltimore, Dallas, Grand Rapids, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, St. Louis, San Francisco, South Bend, and Toledo. In New York, di Suvero’s work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Storm King Art Center (Mountainville, NY). Di Suvero founded Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens, New York, in 1985. It became a public city park in 1998.

1 - Donald Judd, “In the Galleries,” Arts, October 1960.