Normanno Wedge- 1980

Artist: Beverly Pepper

Where: South Campus

Beverly Pepper is an artist and sculptor who works to incorporate the environment with strong, poignant art. Pepper was born in 1922 and resided in Umbria, Italy, which is where the foundation of her iron sculpturing arose. At the beginning of Beverly’s work she was mostly into painting, but one day received an opportunity for a challenge to create a sculpture out of iron or steel for an art show in Umbria, thus her sculpting career was born. Pepper is famous for her land art, and site specific sculptures. She works with a variety of materials but plays with the idea of time and endurance by using materials that will withstand the test of time. She invites viewers to experience pieces up close and does not offer up “explanations” for her pieces. She turns art around and makes it about the viewer and their experience.

The wedge is a tool, often made of iron or wood. Pepper’s use of the wedge structure conveys a sense of both ancient and modern. Wedge, she describes her aim for her works as follows, “I wish to make an object that has powerful presence, but is at the same time inwardly turned, seeming capable of intense self-absorption”. Normanno Wedge certainly embodies this statement. Standing tall and strong the piece could be described as powerful.

Eva Krueger- collage maker and research

Mia Cullen- drawing and research

Anna DeWitt (blog leader)- photographer and research

Works Cited

Beverly Pepper, Marlborough Gallery, www.beverlypepper.net/main. Accessed 22 Oct. 2018.

Fox, Judith h. “Space is a Living Thing: A Conversation with Beverly Pepper.” Sculpture, Sept. 2013, pp. 25-29, www.sculpture.org/documents/pdf/f1-pepper%20sep13.pdf. Accessed 22 Oct. 2018.

Salter, Kate. “The Brilliant Artist You’ve Never Heard of: Interview with Sculptor Beverly Pepper.” The Telegraph, edited by Richard Burton, Telegraph Media Group, June 2014, www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/10925186/The-brilliant-artist-youve-never-heard-of-interview-with-sculptor-Beverly-Pepper.html. Accessed 22 Oct. 2018.

editors, history.com. The 1980s, A&E television networks, 23 Aug. 2018, www.history.com/topics/1980s/1980s. Accessed 23 Oct. 2018.

Burleigh, Nina. Beverly Peppers Umbrian Influence, Wall Street Journal , 3 Oct. 2013, www.wsj.com/articles/sculptor-beverly-pepper8217s-umbrian-influence-1380756795. Accessed 23 Oct. 2018.

The Economy in The 1980s, Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/place/Italy/The-economy-in-the-1980s. Accessed 23 Oct. 2018.