''Spaces with Iron'' is a public sculpture by American artist Will Horwitt. It was installed in January 2009 on the

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Indiana ( ) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the south and southeast, and the Wabash Riv ...

(IUPUI) campus, near downtown

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. The sculpture is located at the corner of Blackford and Vermont Streets, on the southeast lawn of the Science Building, and is on long-term loan from the

Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, the Garden at Newfields and more. It is located at the corner of No ...

Description

''Spaces with Iron'', created in 1972, is made of

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

. It measures high, wide, and long. The work consists of two open rectangular pieces. One elongated rectangle is cast in bronze; the other piece, almost square, is cast iron. The cast-iron rectangle is taller than the bronze piece, but the bronze piece is wider. Both forms sit upright, parallel to each other, and are connected with an iron piece resting across the bottom of each piece. The sculpture sits on a cylindrical-shaped concrete base. A bronze rectangular

cuboid In geometry, a cuboid is a hexahedron with quadrilateral faces, meaning it is a polyhedron with six Face (geometry), faces; it has eight Vertex (geometry), vertices and twelve Edge (geometry), edges. A ''rectangular cuboid'' (sometimes also calle ...

rests on each rectangular piece on the sculpture's proper left side. The edges of both cuboids extend beyond the sides of the rectangular pieces. ''Spaces with Iron'' "draws attention to the negative spaces created by the sculpture's openings as well as the environment in which it resides."

Acquisition

The Indianapolis Museum of Art acquired ''Spaces with Iron'' in 1981 through the Helen Benjamin Fund and assigned it accession number 81.220.

Artist

New York City artist Will Horwitt was a modernist sculptor who was born in 1934 and spent his adolescence in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. From 1952 to 1954 he studied at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

. In 1965 he received the

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

for creative sculpture. Three years later he was awarded the Tiffany Purchase Grant. ''New York Times'' art critic Art Canaday commends Horwitt as "a most gratifying workman...The simplified subtly warped forms in expressive balances are consistently mindful of Brancusi, but that is a good point of departure. Mr. Horwitt comes through as one of the strongest young sculptures around." Horwitt's works appear in many public and private collections, including those of Nelson Rockefeller, Vera and Albert List, and Helen and Robert Benjamin. His sculptures are featured in the

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Art Gallery, 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 ...

, the

Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionism, Impressionist paintings, Hudson Riv ...

, the

Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum located adjacent to Delaware Park, Buffalo, New York, United States. The museum shows modern art and contemporary art. It is directly opposite Buff ...

, the Neuberger Museum of Art, the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection in Albany, NY, and at IUPUI. Horwitt's works are strongly rooted in geometric forms. His

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

pieces have been favorably viewed by many critics throughout his career. Horwitt "reflects nthe dominance of a certain preoccupation with the language of the space and lines that express the evocative forms of both his drawings and sculptures." According to Al Brunelle, writer for '' Art in America'', Horwitt's pieces are, "expressive...they transmit a feeling that is vital and concrete like everyday life experience." His last exhibition was at the Vanderwoude Tananbaum Gallery in New York City. He died of lymphoma in 1985 in New York City at the age of fifty one.

Location

''Spaces with Iron'' was acquired by Newfields (formerly the Indianapolis Museum of Art) in 1981. In 1985 it was moved from the southwest corner of the sculpture court to the north of Newfields’ Krannert Pavilion. The sculpture was moved again in 1990 to Newfield's southeastern lawn by the parking lot, to either the north or west side. In late January 2009 it was removed from the Newfields grounds and installed on the IUPUI campus, at the corner of Blackford and Vermont Streets on the southeast lawn of the Science Building. ''Spaces with Iron'' is one of four pieces on long-term loan to IUPUI from the

. The others are '' Portrait of History'', '' Mega-Gem'', and ''

East Gate/West Gate ''East Gate/West Gate'', a public sculpture by Sasson Soffer, is located on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus, which is near downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. This sculpture is on loan from the Indianapolis Museum of Art ...

''. Three pieces were transported to IUPUI in January 2009; however, due to its size, ''East Gate/West Gate'' was flown by helicopter to campus in March 2009. These pieces and other public art are installed along a portion of the

Indianapolis Cultural Trail The Indianapolis Cultural Trail, officially the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick, is an urban shared-use path and linear park located in the vicinity of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The trail is often compared to ...

, a bikeway and pedestrian path that "connects neighborhoods, entertainment facilities and the city's five cultural districts":

Indiana Avenue Indiana Avenue is a historic area in downtown and is one of seven designated cultural districts in Indianapolis, Indiana. Indiana Avenue was, during its glory days, an African American cultural center of the area. The Indiana Avenue Historic D ...

, Massachusetts Avenue,

Fountain Square A fountain square is a park or plaza in a city that features a fountain. It may stand alone or as part of a larger public park. United States In the United States, there are numerous fountain squares, many of which are actually called "fountain ...

, the Wholesale District, and

White River State Park White River State Park is an urban park in downtown Indianapolis, downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Situated along the eastern and western banks of its namesake White River (Indiana), White River, the park covers . The park is home to numerous att ...

. The Cultural Trail, completed in 2013, connects downtown Indianapolis to

Broad Ripple Village Broad Ripple Village is one of seven areas designated as Indianapolis Cultural Districts, cultural districts in Indianapolis, Indiana. Located in Washington Township, Marion County, Indiana, about north of downtown Indianapolis, Broad Ripple wa ...

via the

Monon Trail The Monon Trail (known as the Monon Greenway in Carmel, Indiana, Carmel) is a rail trail located entirely within the U.S. state of Indiana. It runs along the main line of the Monon Railroad, a popular railroad line connecting the cities of Chic ...

References

External links

''Spaces with Iron'' in SOS! database''Spaces with Iron'' collection record
Indianapolis Museum of Art {{IMAart 1972 establishments in Indiana 1972 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Indiana Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis Public Art Collection Iron sculptures in the United States Outdoor sculptures in Indianapolis