Carl Andre (September 16, 1935 – January 24, 2024) was an American minimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear and

grid format The grid format has been an important component of avant-garde visual art throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century. Early appearances of the grid format include work by Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich and other artists belonging to ...

sculptures. His sculptures range from large

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

works (such as ''Stone Field Sculpture'', 1977, in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, and ''Lament for the Children'', 1976, in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

, New York), to large interior works exhibited on the floor (such as ', 1969), to small intimate works (such as ', 1989, and ''7 Alnico Pole'', 2011). In 1985 his third wife, contemporary artist

Ana Mendieta Ana Mendieta (November 18, 1948 – September 8, 1985) was a Cuban-American performance artist, sculptor, painter, and video artist who is best known for her "earth-body" artwork. She is considered one of the most influential Cuban-American ar ...

, fell from their 34th-floor apartment window and died. Neighbors heard an argument and Mendieta shouting "no" immediately before the fall. He was acquitted of a

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

charge in a 1988

bench trial A bench trial is a trial by judge, as opposed to a jury. The term applies most appropriately to any administrative hearing in relation to a summary offense to distinguish the type of trial. Many legal systems ( Roman, Islamic) use bench trials ...

, causing uproar among feminists in the art world; supporters of Mendieta have protested at his subsequent exhibitions.

Early life

Andre was born on September 16, 1935, in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

, the youngest of the three children of George (a master designer of freshwater plumbing for ships) and Margaret (Johnson) Andre. He completed primary and secondary schooling in the Quincy public school system and studied art at

Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was Settler, settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''Encyclopedia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed. ...

, from 1951 to 1953.''Naked by the Window,'' by Robert Katz published 1990 by The Atlantic Monthly Free Press While at Phillips Academy, he became friends with Hollis Frampton, who would later influence Andre's radical approach to sculpture through their conversations about art''12 Dialogues,'' Carl Andre and Hollis Frampton 1962–1963 published by Nova Scotia College of Art and Design Press and New York University Press, edited by Benjamin HD Buchloh and through introductions to other artists.''Minimalism: Art and Polemics in the Sixties,'' edited by James Meyer, published 2004 by Yale University Press , Andre served in the U.S. Army in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

from 1955 to 1956, and moved to New York City in 1956. While in New York, Frampton introduced Andre to

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism ...

, through whom Andre became re-acquainted with a former classmate from Phillips Academy,

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (May 12, 1936 – May 4, 2024) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career befor ...

, in 1958. Andre shared studio space with Stella from 1958 through 1960.

Work

Early work

Andre cited Brâncuși as an inspiration for his early wood sculptures, but his conversations with Stella about space and form led him in a different direction. While sharing a studio with Stella, Andre developed a series of wooden "cut" sculptures (such as ''Radial Arm Saw cut sculpture'', 1959 and ''Maple Spindle Exercise'', 1959). Stella is noted as having said to Andre (regarding hunks of wood removed from Andre's sculpture), "Carl, that's sculpture, too." From 1960 to 1964, Andre worked as a freight

brakeman A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The advent of through brakes, brakes on every wagon which could be controlled by the driver, made this role r ...

and conductor in New Jersey for the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

. His experience with blue collar labor and the ordered nature of conducting freight trains would later influence Andre's sculpture and artistic personality. For example, it was not uncommon for Andre to dress in overalls and a blue work shirt, even to the most formal occasions." During this period, Andre focused mainly on writing, and there is little notable sculpture of his on record between 1960 and 1965. His poetry resurfaced later, most notably in a book published in 1980 by NYU Press called ''12 Dialogues'', in which Andre and Hollis Frampton took turns responding to one another at a typewriter using mainly poetry and free-form essay-like texts. Andre's

concrete poetry Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has now developed a distinct mea ...

has been exhibited in the United States and Europe, a comprehensive collection of which is in the collection of the

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

in Amsterdam.

Mature work

In 1965, Andre had his first public exhibition of his work in the ''Shape and Structure'' show curated by Henry Geldzahler at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery. In the late 1960s, entrepreneur Karl Ströher from

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

, Germany, acquired three major works from Andre to give them on loan to the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt. Peter Iden then acquired these works for the Museum für Moderne Kunst

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in 1981. The works have since been shown in various "Change of Scene" exhibitions (1992–2002) at the museum in Frankfurt and internationally. In 1969, Andre helped organize the Art Workers Coalition. In 1970, he had a solo exhibition at the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (Manhattan), 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent coll ...

''Equivalent VIII''

In 1972, Britain's

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

acquired Andre's '' Equivalent VIII'', an arrangement of 120 firebricks. The piece was exhibited several times without incident, but became the center of controversy in 1976 after being featured in an article in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' and later being defaced with blue food dye. The "Bricks controversy" became one of the most famous public debates in Britain about contemporary art.

''Lever''

Andre's ''Lever'' consists of a single line of 137 firebricks. The work concisely divides a space as the bricks hug the floor. The exhibition of ''Lever'' at the 1966 exhibition Primary Structures at the

Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. Notable Jewish museums include: Albania * Solomon Museum, Berat Australia * Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourn ...

in New York brought considerable recognition to Carl Andre.

Criticism

The gradual evolution of consensus about the meaning of Andre's art was compiled in the book ''About Carl Andre: Critical Texts Since 1965'', published by

Ridinghouse Ridinghouse was founded in 1995 as a British book publisher specialising in art. Company history Ridinghouse was established by Karsten Schubert (with Charles Asprey and Thomas Dane) as a stand-alone publisher alongside its founders' gallery a ...

in 2008. The most significant essays and exhibition reviews were collated into this volume, including texts written by some of the most influential art historians and critics:

Clement Greenberg Clement Greenberg () (January 16, 1909 – May 7, 1994), occasionally writing under the pseudonym K. Hardesh, was an American essayist known mainly as an art critic closely associated with American modern art of the mid-20th century and a formali ...

, Donald Kuspit, Lucy R. Lippard, Robert C. Morgan, Barbara Rose and Roberta Smith.

Personal life

Andre's first two marriages ended in divorce, and the third in the alleged murder of his wife, for which he was acquitted under controversial and contested circumstances . In 1999 he married artist Melissa Kretschmer. Andre died in Manhattan on January 24, 2024, at the age of 88.

Death of Ana Mendieta

In 1979 he met his third wife, artist

, through a mutual friendship with artists Leon Golub and Nancy Spero at AIR Gallery in New York City. Andre and Mendieta married in January 1985. Mendieta fell to her death from Andre's 34th-story apartment window in September 1985, after an argument with Andre. Their neighbors, a couple next door, are reported to have heard Mendieta scream "No" the same night, and Andre was also seen with multiple scratches on his face after that night. Andre was quoted from a

9-1-1 911, sometimes written , is an emergency telephone number for Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Maldives, Palau, Panama, Iraq, the Philippines, Sint Maarten, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as ...

call after her death to have said, "What happened was we had … my wife is an artist and I am an artist and we had a quarrel about the fact that I was more, eh, exposed to the public than she was and she went to the bedroom and I went after her and she went out of the window". The same night Andre was charged with

. He elected to be tried before a judge with no jury. In 1988, he was acquitted of all charges related to Mendieta's death. Museums that exhibit Andre's work have been met with outrage from Mendieta's supporters. The 2022 podcast ''Death of an Artist'' detailed a culture of secrecy around Mendieta's death and Andre's potential involvement. In 2017, protestors attended the opening of his exhibition at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in Los Angeles, distributing postcards that read, "Carl Andre is at MOCA Geffen. ().

Artist books

*''Quincy Book''. Andover: Addison Gallery of American Art, 1973. Artist book by Carl Andre which features commissioned photographs of landscapes and monuments in his hometown of Quincy, Massachusetts. ''Quincy'' was originally printed in conjunction with Andre's 1973 solo show at Addison Gallery, and reprinted by Primary Information in 2014. *''America Drill: Red Cut, White Cut, Blue Cut''. Brussels: Maîtres de Forme Contemporains/Michèle Didier, and Paula Cooper Gallery, 2003. Limited edition of 100 numbered, signed and stamped copies, 400 numbered copies and 100 artist's proofs.

References

External links

Official websiteFilmed interview with Carl Andre – TateShots

Carl Andre collection MMK FrankfurtCarl Andre exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery, NYC 2014

Retrospective Gets a Master's Touch Carl Andre Emerges to Guide Installation at Dia:Beacon NEW YORK TIMES by Randy Kennedy

Carl Andre Dia Retrospective

from the Art Story Foundation website

from the Guggenheim Museum

Timeline of Exhibitions 1964–present
Carl Andre
at the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

Brooklyn Rail
''In Conversation: Carl Andre with Michèle Gerber Klein and Phong Bui'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Carl 1935 births 2024 deaths Minimalist artists Sculptors from New York (state) American contemporary artists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Quincy, Massachusetts American people acquitted of murder