Modular constructivism is a style of

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s and was associated especially with

Erwin Hauer Erwin Hauer (January 18, 1926, Vienna, Austria - December 22, 2017, Branford, Connecticut) was an Austrian-born American sculptor who studied first at Vienna's Academy of Applied Arts and later under Josef Albers at Yale. Hauer was an early pro ...

and

Norman Carlberg Norman K. Carlberg (November 6, 1928 – November 11, 2018) was an American sculptor, photographer, and printmaker. He is noted as an exemplar of the modular constructivist style. Early life and education Carlberg was born in Roseau, Minneso ...

. It is based on carefully structured modules which allow for intricate and in some cases infinite patterns of repetition, sometimes used to create limitless, basically planar, screen-like formations, and sometimes employed to make more multidimensional structures. Designing these structures involves intensive study of the combinatorial possibilities of sometimes quite curvilinear and fluidly shaped modules, creating a seamless, quasi-organic unity that can be either rounded and self-enclosed, or open and potentially infinite. The latter designs have proved useful and attractive for use in eye-catching architectural walls and screens, often featuring complex patterns of undulating, tissue-like webbing, with apertures which transmit and filter light, while generating delicate patterns of shadow. Writing in ''Architecture Week'' (August 4, 2004), Hauer explains that "Continuity and potential infinity have been at the very center of my sculpture from early on.

Hauer made an extensive study of biomorphism, biomorphic form, especially what he calls "saddle surfaces," which combine convex and concave curvature and thus allow for smooth self-combination, sometimes in multiple dimensions. Another inspiration is the sculpture of

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Mo ...

, with its fluid curves and porosity. Hauer's enthusiasm caught the imagination of his colleague at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Both were devoted students of the arch-formalist

Josef Albers Josef Albers (; ; March 19, 1888March 25, 1976) was a German-born artist and educator. The first living artist to be given a solo show at MoMA and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he taught at the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College ...

. Indeed, from the beginning, there was in this modular approach to sculpture an implicit

formalism Formalism may refer to: * Form (disambiguation) * Formal (disambiguation) * Legal formalism, legal positivist view that the substantive justice of a law is a question for the legislature rather than the judiciary * Formalism (linguistics) * Scien ...

and even

minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

which held itself aloof from some of the other artistic trends of the time, such as the pop art and

post-modernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the "grand narratives" of modernis ...

that were just beginning to emerge. As Carlberg recalls, within his artistic circle "you analysed, you looked at something, but you looked at it formally just for what it was and the message was almost always out of it.

References

* Galerie Chalette
''Structured sculpture : December 1960-January 1961''
(

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

: The Gallery, 1960) xhibition catalogue

OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It wa ...

6027697 * Carlberg, Norman. ''Norman Carlberg : an exhibition of sculpture'' xhibition catalogue(Exhibition of sculpture : Norman Carlberg : presented by the Pennsylvania State University College of Arts and Architecture, November 5-November 29, 1966)

81988058;

82275454 (Worldcat links

* Hauer, Erwin
''Erwin Hauer : Continua - architectural screens and walls by Erwin Hauer''
(New York : Princeton Architectural ; London : Hi Marketing, 2004) {{ISBN, 1-56898-455-3 * Montpelier Cultural Arts Center
Sculpture 2000 : the twentieth anniversary of the Montpelier invitational sculpture exhibition, Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, June 8 - August 18, 2000
xhibition catalogue(Maryland : Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, 2000)

49254937 *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

(New York, N.Y.)
''Recent sculpture U.S.A. Sponsored by the Junior Council of the Museum of Modern Art''
(New York, 1959) OCLC 1097018 * Philadelphia Museum College of Art; Paul Darrow; Ed Rossbach; Walter Reinsel;

Antonio Frasconi Antonio Frasconi (28 April 1919 in Montevideo, Uruguay – 8 January 2013 in Norwalk, CT, USA) was an Uruguayan - American visual artist, best known for his woodcuts. He was raised in Montevideo, Uruguay, and lived in the United States since ...

; Herb Lubalin; Helen Borten; Henry Mitchell; Erwin Hauer; John Mason; Lenore Tawney
''Directors' choice : an exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art, Broad and Pine Streets, January 14 through February 7, 1961''
(

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pa. : hiladelphia Museum College of Art 1961)

49120005

External links

Erwin Hauer Studios homepage, with Hauer bio
* ttp://www.architonic.com/cat/fam/3101037/1 Information on Erwin Hauer Studios from architonic.com
Article: "Screens to Infinity", by Erwin Hauer
''Architecture Week'', (4 August 2004)

at Riverside Centre, built by

Harry Seidler Harry Seidler (25 June 19239 March 2006) was an Austrian-born Australian architect who is considered to be one of the leading exponents of Modernism's methodology in Australia and the first architect to fully express the principles of the Bauh ...

and Associates in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia
Marylandartsource.com
page on Norman Carlberg, including some comment by the artist on the modular constructivist style Art movements Constructivism History of sculpture Modernist sculpture

Constructivism Constructivism may refer to: Art and architecture * Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes * Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in Russia in the 1920s a ...