Chairs 2001

Robert Morris’s 'Chairs' – I'm not sure when exactly he made it, but let's imagine him in his studio, wrestling with these forms, draping and shaping, maybe even sweating a bit. What I find so captivating is the tension between the familiar and the strange. These chairs, objects of everyday utility, are transformed into ghostly apparitions, draped in lead. I can almost feel the weight of the material, the way it resists and yields to his touch. It's like he's asking: what does it mean to sit, to occupy space, to be present, or not? The folds and creases in the lead become like gestural marks, each one a record of his actions, his decisions, his doubts. They also remind me a little bit of Lynda Benglis's poured latex sculptures. And that color! Or lack thereof. That steely grey – it's melancholic, almost funerary. Robert Morris is always in conversation with other artists. He shows us that a simple, functional object can be a site of profound contemplation.