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Lot Essay
Working in Los Angeles in the 1960s, John McCracken quickly became one of the leading artists of the Minimalist movement thanks to his singular innovations in the field of sculpture. Citing his most crucial influences as the expressive explorations of pure color by Barnett Newman, the refined craftsmanship of Donald Judd and the ethereal elegance of Dan Flavin’s light sculptures, McCracken began to build his own beguilingly simple geometric objects: colorful blocks, planks, wedges and slabs expertly rendered in lacquer, fiberglass and plywood by the artist’s own hand. McCracken’s sculptures emanate a mystical grace in their precise forms and polished surfaces, reminiscent of relics from an alien world. Indeed, the artist was steadfast in his belief in the existence of extraterrestrials, as well as time-travel, and often described his art as something that could have originated from outer space. As the artist explained, “Even before I did concerted studies of U.F.O.s, it helped me maintain my focus to think I was trying to do the kind of work that could have been brought here by a U.F.O.” (J. McCracken, quoted in “Between Two Worlds: John McCracken,” Art in America, April 1998).
In 1966, the artist developed what would become his signature sculptural form: the plank, a structure that may very well have inspired the famous monolith from the seminal science fiction film by Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968. McCracken’s planks lean against the wall and tower over the viewer at a height of seven feet or more, their polished, immaculate surfaces at once reflective and opaque. The artist’s aesthetic is also inspired by Los Angeles car culture. The glistening surfaces of his works distinctly resemble the monochromatic exteriors of the droves of automobiles eternally navigating the urban West Coast landscape. McCracken once described cars as “mobile color chips,” emphasizing their influence on his practice (J. McCracken, quoted in J. McCracken and T. Kellein (eds.), “Interview with John McCracken,” McCracken, exh. cat., Kusthalle Basel, 1995). In addition to the planks, the artist also began creating wall pieces and free-standing geometric sculptures, ranging from smaller forms on pedestals to large scale, outdoor structures. McCracken's works were included in many of the major sculpture exhibitions of the 1960s, such as Primary Structures at the Jewish Museum, 1966, American Sculpture of the Sixties at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1967, and Art of the Real at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1969.
The present work, Red Block in Three Parts, was executed in 1966, the same year that the artist began making his renowned planks. The three seemingly identical blocks form a cohesive whole, making the work remarkably unique for its modular construction. The brilliant crimson surface of the three blocks is distinctly painterly, but does not betray any sign of the artist’s hand whatsoever. In this way, the artist perfectly achieves the unearthly—or even sublime—effect described above. Red Block in Three Parts exemplifies McCracken’s seductive, light-emanating sculptural ingenuity. It is at once highly rational, mysterious and almost playful in its relationship to the viewer. As the artist notes in one of his sketch books, “if the viewer is in motion, the sculptures become in a sense kinetic, changing more radically than one might expect. At times, certain sculptures seem to almost disappear and become illusions, so rather than describing these things are objects, it might be better to describe them as complexes of energies” (J. McCracken, “Sketch Book Entry from July 1966,” John McCracken Sketch Book, 2008).
In 1966, the artist developed what would become his signature sculptural form: the plank, a structure that may very well have inspired the famous monolith from the seminal science fiction film by Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968. McCracken’s planks lean against the wall and tower over the viewer at a height of seven feet or more, their polished, immaculate surfaces at once reflective and opaque. The artist’s aesthetic is also inspired by Los Angeles car culture. The glistening surfaces of his works distinctly resemble the monochromatic exteriors of the droves of automobiles eternally navigating the urban West Coast landscape. McCracken once described cars as “mobile color chips,” emphasizing their influence on his practice (J. McCracken, quoted in J. McCracken and T. Kellein (eds.), “Interview with John McCracken,” McCracken, exh. cat., Kusthalle Basel, 1995). In addition to the planks, the artist also began creating wall pieces and free-standing geometric sculptures, ranging from smaller forms on pedestals to large scale, outdoor structures. McCracken's works were included in many of the major sculpture exhibitions of the 1960s, such as Primary Structures at the Jewish Museum, 1966, American Sculpture of the Sixties at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1967, and Art of the Real at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1969.
The present work, Red Block in Three Parts, was executed in 1966, the same year that the artist began making his renowned planks. The three seemingly identical blocks form a cohesive whole, making the work remarkably unique for its modular construction. The brilliant crimson surface of the three blocks is distinctly painterly, but does not betray any sign of the artist’s hand whatsoever. In this way, the artist perfectly achieves the unearthly—or even sublime—effect described above. Red Block in Three Parts exemplifies McCracken’s seductive, light-emanating sculptural ingenuity. It is at once highly rational, mysterious and almost playful in its relationship to the viewer. As the artist notes in one of his sketch books, “if the viewer is in motion, the sculptures become in a sense kinetic, changing more radically than one might expect. At times, certain sculptures seem to almost disappear and become illusions, so rather than describing these things are objects, it might be better to describe them as complexes of energies” (J. McCracken, “Sketch Book Entry from July 1966,” John McCracken Sketch Book, 2008).