Dia: Beacon

The artist whose work i was most impressed by on our trip to Dia: Beacon was Sol LeWitt. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut on September 9, 1928. LeWitt was known to have been associated with artists Dan Flavin, Robert Mangold and Robert Ryman, possible influences in his work. He began making his wall drawings in 1996. His initial work consisted of pencil drawn lines arranged systematically in verticals, horizontals and diagonals on forty-five degree angles. These pieces were drawn directly onto the wall. In his later wall drawing pieces he incorporated circles, arches as well as colored pencil and eventually he brought in a team of artists to assist in completing his work. I believe i was most impressed by his work because i initially did not think very highly of it. I think it is the kind of piece that can only be appreciated when seen in person. Upon reading about it and viewing small images i thought it was only lines and nothing special. In person its scale and intricate detail is extremely impressive. I can only imagine the impressive amount of time and work that went into creating it and the outcome is equally impressive. This thought makes me appreciate it even more. The fact that he took a simple concept and stretched it to the extreme made me appreciate his innovative and creative body of work.