1974-1988 > Douze Pièces Forgées d'un Cube

forged steel
1980
dimensions variable
Syracuse, New York

Douze Pièce Forgées d'un Cube
forged steel
25 x 19 x 19 centimeters
1980
Douze Pièce Forgées d'un Cube
forged steel
20 x 20 x 27 cm, 60 x 32 x 30 cm, 85 x 26 x 4 cm
1980
Douze Pièce Forgées d'un Cube
forged steel
30 x 34 x 27 centimeters
1980
Douze Pièce Forgées d'un Cube
forged steel
60 x 33 x 10 centimeters
1980
Douze Pièce Forgées d'un Cube
forged steel
170 x 10 x 10 centimeters
1980
Douze Pièce Forgées d'un Cube
forged steel
160 x 19 x 18 centimeters
1980
Douze Pièce Forgées d'un Cube
forged steel
26 x 33 x 11 centimeters
1980
Douze Pièce Forgées d'un Cube
forged steel
167 x 27 x 2 centimeters
1980

These are variations executed within the same paradigm, that of the cube. Each piece is cut out of a rectangular steel girder and formed by a power hammer; it is heated to the point of malleability and then worked, each one for the same period of time. The 12 “declensions” which result constitute a “field” in both the literal and figurative sense. Gérard invents a personal rhetoric with these sculptures, some of which stand independently on the floor while others lean against the wall; they may be folded, bent in pyramid or anvil form, polished, inscribed, or hammered. Though autonomous, they attract and repel one another, composing a universe of complex anamorphoses.
— G.G. Lemaire for Artforum

Collection:
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York

Press:
(1) Incorporating Sculpture Now, June 1982. Review: "Michel Gérard, Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York" by Stephen Westfall; (2) Artforum, Summer 1982. Review: "Michel Gérard, Galerie Jeanne-Bucher, Paris" by Gerard-Georges Lemaire. Translated from the French by Jamey Gambrell: p.94

Bibliography:
Michel Gerard, Musée Départemental des Vosges, Epinal (1983): p. 24-29
Michel Gerard, Galerie Jeanne Bucher (1981) p. 4-9, 21-30
Michel Gérard: Skulpturen 1976-1988 by Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim (1988): p. 25
Michel Gérard: Sculptures 1976-1987, Musée de Calais (1988): p. 9
Michel Gérard: Signature Transformations 2009–1972, Christian Pirot (2009): p. 14

Exhibitions:
1981 Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris
1982 Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York
1982 Mills College Art Gallery, Oakland, California
1989 Everson Museum, Syracuse, New York