Last night, the West 21st Street Gagosian Gallery started shipping out their Richard Serra installation. This meant that the throngs of people leaving opening receptions for bars and subways encountered a giant, famous slab of steel, strapped to a flatbed truck. Holy shit, you guys, Inside Out (2013) is outside!
ANIMAL checked in on the truck this morning. Despite the aggressive artselfie-ing, sensual groping and rainy weather the piece has endured, it’s safe. Gagosian’s rep reminded us that it’s weatherproof. The moving specialist said he’s been sleeping in the truck and keeping an eye on the 25,000 pound thing. As he cheerfully checked the straps, he recalled transporting another giant, famous art work when it snagged a small tree branch which then fell on a biker. He was extremely worried, but the biker yelled, “I recognize the artist. It’s cool. I’m fine.”
The sixteen-piece Inside Out installation is being moved to a storage facility in Long Island one by one, four slabs a day. Meanwhile, the giant steel slabs Intervals, Grief and Reason (for Walter), Counterweights and 7 Plates, 6 Angles are on view at the West 24th Street Gagosian through March 15th. It’s art, so it’s expensive — a three-plate Serra piece sold at Sotheby’s for $1.65 million in 2008. But who pays the parking tickets? (Photos: Aymann Ismail/ANIMALNewYork)
