{"data":{"id":"769","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":769,"topgoose_id":1635,"tms_id":769,"display_name":"Barry Le Va","sort_name":"Le Va Barry","display_date":"1941–2021","begin_date":"1941","end_date":"2021","biography":"\u003cp\u003eBarry Le Va’s groundbreaking early works\nwere important examples of an artistic\napproach that emerged in the mid-1960s,\nwhen artists began placing emphasis\non the processes and ideas of their art\nmaking rather than on finished objects.\nHis \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/7447\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eContinuous and Related Activities;\nDiscontinued by the Act of Dropping\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e is a\nsculptural work, yet because it is contingent\non the instructions and actions by which\nit is created, it challenges the very notion of\nwhat a sculpture is. The work consists\nof two hundred yards of maroon felt that the\nartist disperses in an almost performative\nfashion; working around a single large\nbolt of felt placed on the floor, Le Va tosses,\nfolds, and positions variously sized pieces\nof felt to create a scattered but thoughtfully\ncomposed array across the gallery space.\nFour sheets of glass—each thirty-six inches\nsquare and a quarter-inch thick—are\nthen held, one at a time, above the bolt at the\ncenter and dropped. The artist allows the\nshattered glass to remain wherever it falls.\nLe Va often created detailed, score-like\ndrawings as starting points for such actions.\nFor other of his “distribution” pieces from\nthis era, the artist employed a range of\nmaterials including powdered cement, chalk,\nsand, ball bearings, and wood. In each\ninstance, the viewer is confronted by an\ninstallation that exists as a kind of chance\neffect of the artist’s deliberate actions,\nthe aftermath of the activity. As Le Va\nexplained about his work from this period,\n“I became intrigued by the idea of visual\nclues, the way Sherlock Holmes managed\nto reconstruct a plot from obscure\nvisual evidence. What I’m trying to do now\nis set up situations in which audiences\nhave to use their minds to piece elements\nback together.”\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500004605","wikidata_id":"Q809059","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:32:22.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-12T07:00:15.998-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/769/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/769/exhibitions"}}}}