Irregular Form

Composed of irregular slabs of gray slate on a black granite ground, this artwork’s immense scale and striking silhouette exert a commanding presence on the urban environment.  Captured within a sturdy, grid-like framework that references the rational, geometric ordering of the entire building, the unwieldy appendages of the gray form are firmly anchored to the supporting architecture.  This playful tension between organic and geometric elements is a hallmark of Sol LeWitt’s innovative work.

LeWitt always considered the architectural site an integral component of his work.  Although the irregular gray shape projects from the wall in low relief, like an extra layer of skin, it was not conceived as a decorative sculpture affixed to an inert wall surface.  Instead, Irregular Form is a part of the architectural fabric of the courthouse.  The pulsating interplay of the artwork’s gray and black areas allows each to be read alternately as positive figure and negative void. 

In this artwork, LeWitt eliminated all representational subject matter in order to focus attention on the formal grammars of line, shape, texture, color and scale.  However, the temptation may remain for some viewers to discern in Irregular Form some sort of pictorial references—be they geological, botanical, meteorological, or cartographic.

Although Irregular Form is a permanent installation, made specifically for the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse in Denver, the motivating factor behind every LeWitt work is its potential transportability from site to site.  Like an architectural plan or a musical score, a LeWitt drawing welcomes the existence of copies and encourages multiple variations on a theme.   In this way, his work remains accessible and open to interpretation.  By focusing on the artistic idea instead of a unique and finite result, LeWitt ultimately placed his work at the command of the viewer.