Ibram Lassaw: Sculpture and Works on Paper

Opening September 2nd and running through October 18, The Drawing Room in East Hampton is pleased to present "Ibram Lassaw (1913-2003): Sculpture and Works on Paper". On view are six welded bronze and bronze alloy sculptures made in the 1980s and a collection of paintings on paper in the spirit of his sculpture. Having achieved recognition as one of the first American abstract sculptors, Lassaw was at the height of his career, in full command of his intuitive welding techniques when he chose to explore the potential of multi-positional sculpture. While most sculpture is made to be viewed in the round, Lassaw’s intention in his late work shown here was to weld sculpture so intrinsic to its abstract process that it works in any relationship to gravity. In addition to the six sculptures on view will be a group of acrylic and ink paintings on paper, some of which predate the three dimensional work and throw light on the fluid line Lassaw drew and sculpted as he investigated the nature of space over his long career.

A resident of The Springs from 1954 until his death in 2003, Lassaw came into artistic maturity in New York where he was a founding member of The American Abstract Artists Group (1936) and The Club (1949). Inspired by a love of natural sciences and the structure of organisms, the rich art of his time, and Zen Buddhism, Lassaw’s work evolved with his growing study of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of nature’s designs and the excitement in the growing field of systems theory in which an organic, interdisciplinary perspective emerged in the sciences, philosophy and the arts.

See below for full press release and selected works.