Mind the gap: Gagosian New York presents a host of Chris Burden’s bridges
When New York City's New Museum staged its 2013 retrospective for the late sculptor Chris Burden, some of the most arresting pieces of work were several intricately realised bridge constructions that debuted during the show. While those structures spanned the width of the room, a selection of Burden’s small-scale bridges is currently being displayed at the Gagosian’s Park Avenue and 75th Street space.
Of course, Burden’s fascination with bridges didn’t just materialise in 2013. Back in 1997, the sculptor was captivated by a drawing of an unrealised bridge from the 19th century and created his piece, The 1/4 Ton Bridge, from vintage Meccano and Erector sets.
‘As a sculptor, I’m interested in architecture and I’ve made artworks that are literally architectural,’ Burden has said. ‘What I like about bridges as a kicker is that a bridge’s function is extremely pure and clear. Yet, if you look through the history of bridges, the solutions are infinite.’
Rather than being merely aesthetic constructions, Burden’s bridges are accurate down to a tee. In addition to understanding the mechanics of proportion and weight – which he’s also demonstrated in other kinetic, transport themed works – Burden also commissioned stainless steel replicas of the 'Erector Mysto Type I' set to ensure that his bridges would resist rust and corrosion. These improved components appear in Indo-China Bridge, 2002; Tower of London Bridge, 2003; and Victoria Falls Bridge, 2003. The full extent of Burden’s imagination is best captured in Tyne Bridge Kit, 2004 – a wooden cabinet made specifically for a 31ft model of the titular bridge, which involves 20,000 pieces, and includes tools and instructions (thankfully).
The Gagosian’s love for Burden doesn’t stop there. At its Madison Avenue location, the gallery is exhibiting one of Burden’s last works, Buddha's Fingers, 2014–15. Taking cues from Urban Light, 2008, which permanently holds court at LACMA’s entrance and catapulted Burden into the public consciousness, a forest of 32 cast-iron antique street lamps are set in a honeycomb formation.
INFORMATION
‘Bridges’ and ‘Buddha’s Fingers’ are on view at Gagosian’s uptown locations until 20 February. For more details, please visit the Gagosian’s website
Photography: ©Chris Burden. Courtesy of the Chris Burden Estate and Gagosian Gallery
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Pei-Ru Keh is a former US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru held various titles at Wallpaper* between 2007 and 2023. She reports on design, tech, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru took a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars, actively seeking out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.
-
Postcard from Helsinki Design Week 2024
The Finns lead the way when it comes to integrating design into everyday life, as they deftly demonstrate during Helsinki Design Week 2024
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
Fashion designer Simone Rocha on her perfect restaurant experience
Simone Rocha, among creatives invited by Wallpaper* guest editor Laila Gohar to share meaningful dining memories, recalls happy evenings at a mountainside haunt near Nice
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
‘London has a punk attitude – it has enabled somebody like me to emerge in this extremely niche field’: designer Natsai Audrey Chieza
As we interview key figures around London Design Festival 2024, Natsai Audrey Chieza discusses biodesign, previews her ‘Gathering’ lamp, and ponders the role of the festival
By Ali Morris Published
-
Mark Armijo McKnight’s bodily landscapes capture the tactile serenity of the American West
The artist’s new exhibition at the Whitney Museum, which is organised by the museum curator Drew Sawyer, offers a succinct window into his contemplative suggestion of queering a landscape
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published
-
Dark, glamorous and hedonistic: a photography book captures New York in the 1990s
New York: High Life, Low Life, by Dafydd Jones, goes behind the scenes of New York society
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Derrick Alexis Coard’s portraits are a sensitive, positive testimony to Black men
The late artist Derrick Alexis Coard’s retrospective ‘I Am That I Am’, at New York’s Salon 94, honours his ‘symbolic expression for possible change for the African-American male community’
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Intimacy, violence and the uncanny: Joanna Piotrowska in Philadelphia
Artist and photographer Joanna Piotrowska stages surreal scenes at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania
By Hannah Silver Published
-
First look: Sphere’s new exterior artwork draws on a need for human connection
Wallpaper* talks to Tom Hingston about his latest large-scale project – designing for the Exosphere
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Marc Hom reframes traditional portraiture in Cooperstown, NY
‘Marc Hom: Re-Framed’ has taken over the grounds of the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, planting Samuel L Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow and more ‘personalities of the world’ into the landscape
By Hannah Hutchings-Georgiou Published
-
‘Happy birthday Louise Parker II’: enter the world of Roe Ethridge
Roe Ethridge speaks of his concurrent Gagosian exhibitions, in Gstaad and London, touching on his fugue approach to photography, fridge doors, and his longstanding collaborator Louise Parker
By Zoe Whitfield Published
-
Alexander May, founder of LA studio Sized, on the joys of creative polymathy
Creative director Alexander May tells us of the multidisciplinary approach that drives his LA studio Sized and its offspring, a 5,000 sq ft event space and an exhibition series
By Hannah Silver Published