Beverly Pepper, a renowned Italian artist born in Brooklyn, New York in 1922, attended Pratt Institute at the mere age of 16. Initially, she intended to study advertising design, photography, and industrial design, but in her early years she worked as a commercial art director and later began painting. Her paintings revolved around social themes, however her work underwent a change in 1962 when she created a welded sculpture in Spoleto, Italy. Pepper then experimented with large-scale land and earth sculptures, and began challenging herself with new techniques and technologies. Pepper’s style formed in the 1970’s when she developed her theme of “Earthbound Sculptures,” creating sculptures that appear to be rising up from the earth.

Pepper’s earthbound sculptures and land art combines industrial materials such as cor-ten steel with nature in order to create a theme of genesis and continuity. This sculpture, the Normanno Column was created during the start of socioeconomic changes; technology was booming, and the transition of Ronald Reagan. The sculpture was started in 1979, the same year as the Soviet-Afghan war during the period of the Cold war, a time period lacking peace, and Pepper may have been seeking solace, peace, and spiritual power in her work. This was also a time where women were very slowly gaining their status and recognition in the art realm, so it is surprising for her work to be recognized like this. The Normanno Column was also made during the time period of Postmodernism and Deconstructivism, which can be noted in her creation of geometric and minimalistic sculptures.

At first glance looking straight into the sculpture, the Normanno Column seems to be a dark pillar rising from the ground. It rests on a high plaque, starting narrow and increasing in size as it grows up from the earth. There is much more to the sculpture that meets the eye. From the side view a line of light shines through the middle of the sculpture, with an open square about three quarters of the way up. The column is actually composed of two pieces coming together to compose one column. According to Beverly Pepper: Sculpture in Place by Rosalind E. Krauss, Pepper’s intent was for the sculpture to become an “integral part of the composition” for the quality of the material to “dissolve,” and allow the earth and sky around it to become an extension of the work’s physical presence. The column was meant to have a “sacred aura” that was made out of cast iron. Pepper also intended for the column to capture the dialogue that is defined by light, as well spaces with its long narrow slits and bored holes. The sharp and angular design of the sculpture can be explained by Pepper’s use of modernist sculpture movements such as Constructivism, Assemblage, and Minimalism. Her intent for the Normanno Column can be seen through a quote she once said, as she wanted to “make an object that has a powerful presence, but it is at the same time inwardly turned, seeming capable of intense self-absorption.”

Bibliography

Krauss, Rosalind E. Beverly Pepper: Sculpture in Place. N.p.: Abbeville, 1986. Print.

Www.spanierman.com, Spanierman Gallery. “BEVERLY PEPPER (b. 1922).” BEVERLY PEPPER – Artist Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

“Beverly Pepper.” Beverly Pepper | artnet. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2017.

Credit

Description – Nour Bibars

Video & Editing – Jen Morss