Elemental

The sculptures of Carl Andre have no specific content or meaning. They are not religious, historical, mythical or social in nature, and do not depict emotions or personal experiences. They are what they are: identical elements of a particular material, ordered in a simple manner, in a square, line or a row.

Red cedar wood

This work is made of red cedar wood. Andre uses steel, copper, aluminium and zinc for his sculptures, but for him wood is ‘the mother of matter’. Five identical stacked and sawn beams form a clear, very well-defined, gate-like construction. The solid wooden sculpture has an impressive, compact simplicity.

Part of reality

Andre is regarded as one of the most important exponents of American minimal art. According to him, his work should be seen above all as part of reality: ‘My work has no more idea than a tree, or a rock, or a mountain or an ocean’.