25 - Carl Andre (American, 1935-2024)

Carl Andre (American, 1935-2024) Al - Fe Dipole - 1973 Aluminium and steel 5 mm x 50 cm x 100 cm (2#, each) One aluminum plate North, one steel plate South. Provenance: Galerie Vega, Liège (1982) The Robert and Suzanne Pannier Collection, Bruges Published: André Gordts, Beelden voor heden [exhibition catalog], De Ronde Tafel, Kortrijk, 1985, pp.12-14 (ill.) Rita Sartorius, Carl Andre [exhibition catalog, Den Haag, Gemeentemuseum, Eindhoven, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum], 1987, cat.1973-38, pp.70-71 (ill.) Exhibited: Bank Brussel Lambert, Kortrijk, Beelden voor heden, 26 May - 15 June 1985, pp.12-14 (ill.) Haags Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag； Eindhoven, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Carl Andre, January - March 1987, cat.1973-38, pp.70-71 (ill.) With a handwritten certificate by the artist, 1973 Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Carl André radically redefined the language of sculpture by abandoning the traditional notion of the autonomous object in favour of works that establish a direct relationship with their surroundings. Constructed from standard industrial materials and placed directly on the floor, his sculptures invite the viewer to experience space through movement rather than representation. Their meaning resides not in composition or modelling, but in the physical presence of matter organised according to simple arrangements. The Dipoles, conceived in 1973, belong to a body of work in which Andre explored the relationship between different metals through the juxtaposition of two equal plates. Rather than concealing the identity of the materials, these works emphasise their intrinsic characteristics: the cool reflectivity of stainless steel, the warm tonality of copper, the muted surface of aluminium or the weathering qualities of Corten steel. Material is not employed symbolically, but allowed to assert its own physical presence.