Nestled firmly in the bucolic Hudson River Valley and spanning five hundred acres, Storm King Art Center represents the quintessential “who’s who” of contemporary large-scale outdoor sculpture. Founded in 1960 by Ralph E. Ogden and H Peter Stern (co-owner of Star Expansion company), the Center’s notable works include sculptures by David Smith, Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeois, Richard Serra, Andy Goldsworthy, Mark Di Suvero, Barbara Hepworth, and Ursula von Rydingsvard, to name a few.

 

        New to an already stellar international collection is the recently commissioned Martin Puryear sculpture entitled Lookout. Evoking the namesake title, Puryear’s sculpture is sited on a berm, with a panoramic view that overlooks the Hudson Valley and the Schunnemonk Mountains. Differing, however, from many of the other sculptures at Storm King that are seen from a distance or driven by on a tram, Puryear’s work is a singular walking destination, accessed by a small upwards pathway adjacent to a larger road. Because of this approach, the first view of the sculpture is of a solid cylindrical structure. Only when walking around the work does the sculpture reveal itself as a large open canopy with a volumetric kiln-like interior suggesting a myriad of earlier historic architectural vaults such as the Tomb of Agamemnon in Mycenae. This opening is both the point of entry for facing into the sculpture as well as the orientation for the viewer “looking out” into the surrounding horizon.

 

        Technically, Lookout is a sculptural tour de force. Made from interlocking bricks, laid at an angle, the organic curvature of the span has a natural ease and an intuitive sense of logic and proportion. Penetrating the structure are a series of ninety cast fiberglass, reinforced concrete lenses (oculi) which both light the interior cavern, and like portals, allow you to look up and out. The viewer’s relationship to the portals is suggested through the design, as there is a sweet spot in the sculpture’s interiors where all the oculi can be seen. This experience is perhaps evocative of a planetarium, as the portals become stars creating their own solar system.

 

        If the interior experience references the cosmological, the exterior suggests multiple readings both organic and inorganic—including gourd, bell, lung, kiln, vault, spud, thimble, shell, beehive, whale, cloak, blob, bell, igloo. The form exerts a quiet lateral pull, as if stretching through space–stable and dense, yet in motion. The interior has a certain breadth, as air is its core, with a corresponding temperature change from in to out. The functionality of the structure as canopy implies multiple uses, as it is warmth, cover, and safety. Equally, there is a suggestion of tomb or catacomb, as a shelter for both life and death. With a bird’s eye view of the valley below, the work’s power is magnified by its site, which is integral to the impact of and our experience with the sculpture.

 

        For all its seriousness, Lookout is also playful. Like a Phillip Guston head, or a tuber emerging from the ground with the promise of nourishment and sustenance, the work pivots between high and low. Equally, it seems both modern and ancient, familiar yet surprisingly original, as if we have seen it before, yet where and when? With Lookout’s abundancy of references and metaphors, it will be interesting to hear what acronym sticks over the years, as descriptions often create a critical mass of differing titles.

 

        Concurrent with the installation of Lookout is an exhibition titled “Process and Scale” which features maquettes that represent four decades of Puryear’s public works. Differing from many other artists of his stature who tend to have easily identifiable styles, Puryear shifts his work significantly for each public commission. He subtly incorporates narratives into his forms, avoiding overt textual didactics that tend to steer readings of artworks into singular references. Reflecting a bold restlessness and fearlessness in scope and ambition, each work is distinctively its own in both material and form. This corollary exhibition gives scope and context to Lookout as the models for the sculpture and other accompanying maquettes, are both powerful and informative.

 

        As a sculptor who has admired Puryear’s work for more than forty years, I see Lookout as a powerful accomplishment in a stellar career. The artists we admire, and the work they create, can be like old friends that have accompanied us on our own artistic journeys. Our connection to each new piece carries that history, and when looking at Puryear’s work, we see each sculpture collectively through that lens. For both myself and many other artists, Martin Puryear’s achievements have set a high standard with which to measure our own. Lookout continues that conversation.

 

 

Neil Goodman is a sculptor formerly based in Chicago with an extensive exhibition history. Presently living in the central coast of California, he retired from Indiana University Northwest as Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts. He is currently represented by Carl Hammer Gallery as well as serving as the South Central California Region Editor for the New Art Examiner.