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Richard Serra

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Artist

The Resume

    (November 2, 1938-March 26, 2024)
    Born in San Francisco, California
    Sculptor and video artist
    Sculptures include 'Tilted Arc' (1981), 'Fulcrum' (1987), 'Berlin Junction' (1987), the 'Torqued Ellipses' series (1996-99) and 'Charlie Brown' (2000)
    Videos include 'Hand Catching Lead' (1968), 'Television Delivers People' (1973) and 'Boomerang' (1974)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was suspended from Yale for two weeks for playing a practical joke on visiting artist Robert Rauschenberg: 'I found a chicken and tethered it to a rope and put in this box on a pedestal.... But when he lifted the box, the goddamn chicken flew up over his head and started shitting everywhere.'
    During the early 70s, a rigger installing one of his massive sculptures was crushed to death by it.
    His 'Tilted Arc,' a 120-foot long rusting steel wall in the Plaza of the Jacob Javits Federal Building in New York City, produced complaints from workers in nearby buildings that it obstructed access through the plaza.
    During the 'Tilted Arc' controversy, he declared 'Art is not democratic. It's not for the people.' (Never mind that in this case it was on public land and paid for by the people through their tax dollars.)
    'Tilted Arc' was eventually dismantled and consigned to a warehouse (1989).

Why he might not be annoying:

    To fund his early art, he started the company Low-Rate Movers, and employed many of his struggling friends, such as composer Philip Glass.
    During the 'Titled Arc' controversy, he received death threats. ('That's a bit extreme, right?')
    Art historian Robert Hughes called him 'Not only the best sculptor alive, but the only great one at work anywhere in the 21st century.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 75.00% Annoying