Maruta, Manhata, Manuwai were the names of the three wives of the Egyptian King Thutmose III who followed him on his journey to death in a log-boat. Richard Nonas will use the wood from a single tree, uprooted by the devastating hurricane “Sandy” in New York, to create a new wall sculpture. This multilayered work of art evolved from a single log-boat, a spruce, which fell down in the beautiful Brooklyn cemetery, reminding us that the power of resistance can be broken, but will never entirely disappear. The spiritual power of the tree proves its continuous energy, flowing into a structure of power. A log-boat outlasts centuries.
The fact that Richard Nonas´ anthropological education offers an inexhaustible reservoir of historical references, doesn't take anything away from the radical severity.
Floor sculptures made out of steel accentuate the length of the exhibition space. They don't merely consist of their own repertoire of forms, but aim to structure the space for and with the help of the visitor, while he's moving around. Space, sculpture and time merge and surround each other.
Richard Nonas (*1936 in New York, lives and works in New York)
In March 2013 he received the Francis J. Greenburger Award in the New Museum in New York, that is given to artists who have made important contributions to the fields of contemporary art, but for one reason or another have not been fully recognized by the world at large.
Selected solo exhibitions
2013 Richard Nonas, James Fuentes Gallery, New York; 2012 The Raw Edge, Vière et les Moyennes Montagnes, Digne Les Bains, Hamish Fulton e Richard Nonas, Galleria Michela Rizzo, Venezia, Split, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris; 2011 No Water-In, Galleria P420, Bologna, Edge-Stones: Vière et les moyennes montagnes, Hameau de Vière, Prads-Haute-Blèone; 2010 Les Femmes Dures, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, Shoot good Not Straight. Musée d'art de Saint'Etienne, Saint'Etienne, In Situ, Galerie Sfeir Semler, Hamburg, Stacks for Now, Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna
