Serge Spitzer (1951 – 2012) Romanian-born American artist, known for his site-specific installations, sculpture, photographs and video.
Spitzer's work was exhibited internationally in numerous museums and art institutions.
"Serge Spitzer, a Romanian-born New York-based artist known for his labyrinths of installations that explore the ways in which the passage of time influences public space and, subsequently, shared reality and collective memory, has passed away at the age of sixty-one. Spitzer also utilizes sculpture, works on paper, photography, and video to reflect on these issues. He has participated in a variety of international exhibitions, notably Documenta and the Venice Biennale, and his work is represented in a number of public and private collections including the Neue Nationalgalerie, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Menil Collection.
Some significant works include his installation at the Palais de Tokyo, originally made for the 1997 Biennial of Lyon, which included nearly 2300 feet of plastic tubes that wrapped through the space, soaring into the air and across the ceiling, sliding about corners and over the floor. Here, the artist aimed to reflect a system of tubes that were installed in Paris prior to telephones as a way to send messages quickly from one end of the city to the other. Said Spitzer: “The message of the work is to create something which is a question to itself. You build structures, which seem to be very clear in their functions. But as you realize the work, you discover the irrationalities in the system. The narrative is about reality. You think the piece is about itself but it’s actually about the world around it, about the people, architecture, and about the structure.”
His 2010 installation at the Mayor Synagogue in Majorca was similarly monumental; the artist laid four tons of green and blue marbles over the former main hall of the building. The color and brightness of the marbles changed with various shades of natural daylight, which as the artist, noted in a New York Times article, symbolized the splintered qualities of life and time, which betrayed the temple’s complexity as both a contemporary and historical entity. “I tried to make sure that the work will force a blended reading of reality at all levels,” said Spitzer, “confronting and melting issues in an attempt to succeed alchemy.”(artforum.com)
Spitzer's work was exhibited internationally in numerous museums and art institutions.
"Serge Spitzer, a Romanian-born New York-based artist known for his labyrinths of installations that explore the ways in which the passage of time influences public space and, subsequently, shared reality and collective memory, has passed away at the age of sixty-one. Spitzer also utilizes sculpture, works on paper, photography, and video to reflect on these issues. He has participated in a variety of international exhibitions, notably Documenta and the Venice Biennale, and his work is represented in a number of public and private collections including the Neue Nationalgalerie, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Menil Collection.
Some significant works include his installation at the Palais de Tokyo, originally made for the 1997 Biennial of Lyon, which included nearly 2300 feet of plastic tubes that wrapped through the space, soaring into the air and across the ceiling, sliding about corners and over the floor. Here, the artist aimed to reflect a system of tubes that were installed in Paris prior to telephones as a way to send messages quickly from one end of the city to the other. Said Spitzer: “The message of the work is to create something which is a question to itself. You build structures, which seem to be very clear in their functions. But as you realize the work, you discover the irrationalities in the system. The narrative is about reality. You think the piece is about itself but it’s actually about the world around it, about the people, architecture, and about the structure.”
His 2010 installation at the Mayor Synagogue in Majorca was similarly monumental; the artist laid four tons of green and blue marbles over the former main hall of the building. The color and brightness of the marbles changed with various shades of natural daylight, which as the artist, noted in a New York Times article, symbolized the splintered qualities of life and time, which betrayed the temple’s complexity as both a contemporary and historical entity. “I tried to make sure that the work will force a blended reading of reality at all levels,” said Spitzer, “confronting and melting issues in an attempt to succeed alchemy.”(artforum.com)
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