Richard Artschwager, the internationally-reknowned artist who lived for many years in Columbia County, has died at 89.
Richard used to rent a place next to the church on Union Street, and also in my barn behind Curtiss House, mainly for spraypainting some of his deeply, appealingly weird wire figures.
As the link above notes, Artschwager works could not be fit into any neat category; his art was truly sui generis. I remember being both baffled and charmed when I first saw his drawings and sculpture in person (as opposed to reproductions) in Soho at Mary Boone in the early ’90s. The bafflement was part of the charm. He truly made art only for its own sake, following his own peculiar path.
I saw his wife Ann just a few days ago in T.J. Maxx of all places. She mentioned that Richard’s retrospective at the Whitney was just closing, and moving on to L.A. It’s at least wonderful that the retro happened in his lifetime.
His immense talent aside, he was a witty but gentle guy, and will be much missed. The Times’ obituary is here.