They
might not know his name, but any New Yorker who has come through the Columbus
Circle subway station has seen his work. Lewitt believed in making art
accessible for everyone, yet his brand of conceptualism was hardly the stuff of
mainstream popularity. Nonetheless, Lewitt became one of the most influential
and collectible artists of the conceptual/minimalist era, while staying
faithful to his own vision. Chris Teerink surveys the artist’s work in Sol Lewitt (an appropriately minimal
title, trailer
here), which opens this
Wednesday at Film Forum.
Lewitt
was an artist, not a celebrity or a self-styled public intellectual. There is
not a lot of footage of Lewitt discussing his work or nearly anything else, so
the rare 1974 audio interview heard throughout the film constitutes quite a
find. Through discussions with Lewitt’s curators, colleagues, and former
assistants, Teerink paints a rather oblique portrait of a “difficult” but loyal
person. Tellingly, his assistant are still probably his best PR reps,
explaining how Lewitt often gave them pieces, as well as collecting their own
work.
Indeed,
Lewitt is clearly the sort of artist who required a small army to install his
large-scale wall drawings. Lucky museums mounting his work often just received
a detailed set of Ikea-like instructions. Teerink’s talking heads readily admit
Lewitt’s plans did not always pan out, but when they do, they are quite
striking.
This
is a quiet film, but it vividly captures the unique sense of space created by
each Lewitt project. Teerink also shows the arduous process of installing #801: Spiral, provoking sympathy for the
exasperated staff at work in Maastricht’s Bonnefantenmuseum.
