YURI SCHWEBLER THE SPIRITUAL PLANE
ALPER INITIATIVE FOR WASHINGTON ART YURI SCHWEBLER THE SPIRITUAL PLANE
Curated by John James Anderson
American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center
Washington, DC
ALPER INITIATIVE FOR WASHINGTON ART
Untitled (Blue Haystack), c. 1983. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
During my research on the Jefferson Place Gallery in 2016, I went on a wild lark trying to find an archive for Yuri Schwebler. That resulted in a 3,000 word essay, published on the Inter- national Sculpture Center’s blog, re:sculpt. The article almost didn’t happen, since it was roughly 2,000 words longer than they typi- cally allowed. The web manager, Karin Jevert, fought for the article’s publication. Thanks to her efforts, the article was published, and it generated some renewed interest in Schwe- bler’s work.
Throughout the 1990s, Enid Sanford and a Drawing for an Unrealized Sculpture, c. 1979. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford. group of supporters attempted to organize a memorial exhibition after Yuri’s death. Absent a willing gallery or museum, those efforts didn’t come to fruition. It’s with great gratitude that, 30 years later, Jack Rasmussen gave it the green light: an exhibition between 2 and 3 decades. Despite the cancellation of the exhibition, due Yuri Schwebler, Washington, DC, 1980. Photo by Mary H.D. Swift. to the international pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, I want to extend my thanks to Jack, Carla Galfano, Sarah Leary, Jessica Pochesci, Kevin Runyon, Kristi-Anne Shaer, and the rest of the staff, assistants, and volunteers who would have helped make this exhibi- tion come together had circumstances remained “normal.” Fortunately, we still have the catalog, and we have Elizabeth Cowgill to thank for that, as well as the generous support of Carolyn Small Alper whose legacy thrives through the exhibitions of Washington art that she championed.
The exhibition also would not be possible without the mindfulness of Enid Sanford and Anthony Cafritz, who have been custodians of Yuri’s work and archive these many years. The volume of material they have allows for great insight into his life and process. Thanks also to all the people who put up with my interviews and inquisitive emails to fill in the gaps, and expand the story: Henry Allen, Allen Appel, Marissa Bridge, Diane Brown, Anthony Cafritz, William Chewning, Rory Connell, Mary Connole, Alice Denney, Holly Fairbank, Drawing for an Unrealized Sculpture, c. 1979. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford. Nina Felshin, Lee Fleming, Ben Forgey, Gay Gladding, John Gossage, David Hamilton, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Frank Herrera, Joel Holub, Caroline Huber, Frederick Kellogg,
2 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 3 Laurie LeClair, Marti Mayo, Mark Power, Neil Printz, Max Protetch, Martin Puryear, Paul Richard, Harold Rivkin, Robin Rose, Jim Sanborn, Enid Sanford, Elinor Schiele, Roy Slade, Robert Stark, Isabel Swift, and Jo Tar tt.
Additionally, there are a number of archives who were kind enough to explore their files on my behalf, allow me remote access to materials, or just let me in the door. These January 1, 1977, 1977. Spirit levels, brass plumb bobs, include Andreas Benedict, Lehmbruck fishing line, 72 x 60 x 2 in. Courtesy of Don Carren. Museum, Duisburg, Germany; Ed Cardoni, Executive Director of Hallwalls, Buffalo; Gwenlyn Coddington, College Archivist & Special Collections Librarian, McDaniel Hoover Library; Alexandra Reigle, American Art and Portrait Gallery Library; Karen Schneider, Head Librarian, Phillips Collection; Rachel Trent, Digital Service Manager, Gelman Library, George Washington University; Laura Vookles, Chair, Curatorial Department, Hudson River Museum.
Thanks to the number of individuals and institutions willing to lend work to make this exhibition a possibility. Elyse Benenson, Anthony Cafritz, Don Carren, William Chewning, Ted and Suzanne Fields, Nina Felshin, Ben Forgey, John Gossage, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Frank Herrara, Caroline Huber, Frederick Kellogg, Ann Klingensmith at Iowa Wesleyan University, Marti Mayo, Mark Power, Paul Richard, Enid Sanford, and Alan Stone.
Thank you to Lee Fleming. Her suggestions and criticisms of the first draft strengthen- ed the essay, because of her keen editorial eye and deep knowledge of Schwebler and his work.
And finally, thank you to Ben Forgey for contributing his remembrances of Yuri, and for his years of reporting on the work of his friend. The reporting of our art critics—in particular for this catalog, the writing of Lee Fleming, Benjamin Forgey, Paul Richard, Henry Allen, Nina Felshin, David Tannous, Tom Dowling, and Bob Arnebeck—provides the first draft of any history of art. Without art criticism, the record and importance of art will be lost. In a time when journalism is under perpetual attack, it is important to remember the value of journalism—all journalism—and how the record of our past can shape our future. Pyramid, 1973. Cast aluminum, plumb bobs, gold cord, 12 x 12 x 96 in. Courtesy Paul Richard.
4 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 5 YURI SCHWEBLER: THE SPIRITUAL PLANE By John James Anderson
IF MEMORY LINGERS: A PREFACE Writing about Yuri Schwebler requires unwinding a messy web of facts, refer- ences, ideas, and contradictions—some of which may be apocryphal. By today’s standards, Schwebler’s early career seems an impossible rise, one that required a lot of luck and timing. Within three years of being discharged from the Army Reserves and Walter Reed’s psychiatric ward, he managed to have two museum shows and an appearance on national television—all Yuri Schwebler, with wife Joanne Hedge Schwebler and Dog, 1968. Photographer: Joanne Hedge. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. without a college degree, much of a track record in Washington, or anywhere else for that matter. It was as if he fell to earth fully the pandemic of 2020 has prohibited the George to fit in. He learned English, and formed. Once established in Washington, retrospective exhibition of surviving objects often ran away from home, hitchhiking or he branched out with some national and (physical plane), the effort of this catalog is riding the rails, to escape his abusive father international successes, thanks to a little to let the ideas of the artist and his work (whom he referred to as his step-father). help from friendly connections. Within a linger a little longer within the confines of Eventually he went into foster care, com- The Ben Bow, c. Spring 1971. Back row (left-right): Calvin Cafritz, decade of arriving in Washington, he would Yuri Schwebler, Allan Bridge, Lucy Clark, Enid Sanford, Unidentified. the spiritual plane. pleted high school in 1962, and attended move to New York in anticipation of a larger Front row (left-right): Robert Stark, Lloyd Greenberg, unidentified, Western Maryland University in Westmin- unidentified, Ellen Donlan. Courtesy Robert Stark. national launch, have a museum show, and A CHANCE FOR REBIRTH ster. There, Schwebler played football, then… disappear. A decade after leaving Unfortunately, 50 years after he began Schwebler was born November 21, 1942, wrestled, studied philosophy, and exhib- for New York, his name would re-emerge making work in Washington, and 30 years during World War II, in Feketic, Yugoslavia, ited in a couple student art exhibitions. He in Washington with the news that he was since his untimely death, those who saw the about 30 miles south of the Hungarian bor- also struck up an acquaintance with the dead. A spark. A flash. Gone. An enigma. work have also begun slipping into the spir- der in present-day Serbia. At the time, the abstract expressionist Clyfford Still, who Writing about his work, Schwebler itual plane. His surviving works still maintain country was occupied by Axis forces, and resided nearby. Still’s advice to the young stated that it had a “cyclic structure.” It their austere beauty. However, many of his his father had been conscripted into the artist: go to Washington. “begins as an idea, crosses three planes of most notable pieces no longer exist, sur- German Army. In 1944, as Russian forces Schwebler was drafted into the Army reality—the mental, the physical, the spiri- vived by photos, news accounts, and the moved into the region, his family fled to Reserves in 1965, working for a time as a tual—and ends as an idea.” It was a process fading memories of those who saw them. Germany. Captured, his father spent the surveyor and a typist. By 1967 he moved that could be repeated “in the memory It’s only recently that Schwebler’s archive next few years in a Russian work camp. to Washington, found work at the Wash- of those who saw the artwork and were has been rediscovered, giving fresh insight When the family emigrated to Delaware ington Evening Star and the architecture touched by it and the artist…”1 into the “mental plane” of the work. While in 1956, Schwebler anglicized his name to firm Hayes, Saey, Mattern, and Mattern,
6 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 7 doing construction. In July 1968, he mar- a report. The alternative: he would have to ried Joanne Hedge, a photographer for stay and be treated.7 Schwebler complied, the Office of Economic Opportunity.2 They enabling the doctor to compile a report were a social couple, attending events at later used in his discharge. However, before the Washington Gallery of Modern Art and he was finally released, he was held for fur- the Phillips Collection.3 At the time, Schwe- ther observation. bler was still painting, creating colorful When Schwebler entered Walter Reed, works that are reminiscent of those of Jack his beard and hair were long and unkempt. Youngerman, which he may have seen at To get more ward privileges, he needed the Phillips Collection in the early spring a haircut. Somehow, he convinced the of 1968. authorities to give him a 12-hour leave for For a time, the couple resided above the this purpose. When he returned, he was Ben Bow bar at then Bohemian Dupont Cir- completely bald: no eyebrows, no hair on cle—in a loft that would later be the home his arms or legs. Every part of his body and studio space of artists Robert Stark and had been shaved clean—every part. “[W] Lucy Clark.4 At the end of 1968, the couple hen I came back, I was as much a freak as Alley to Which the Sun Was Tied 23 August 1971 5:49–6:41 PM, 1971. Images courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. moved to Marin County, California, where when I left Walter Reed.”8 As a result, the Schwebler taught painting at the Sausalito Army found Schwebler mentally unfit for Arts Center, although he was no longer active service, and honorably discharged painting himself. Instead, while doing him. With an exception to filing taxes, the THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH Phillips Collection, until Washington Star art yoga or under the influence of LSD, he was shaving and discharge was the end of During the summer of 1971, a celebration critic Benjamin Forgey wrote about it three inspired by the tides and celestial patterns, George Schwebler; Yuri Schwebler had along Washington’s “gallery row” on P months later. After designating a build- subsequently reflected in his work; rows of been reborn. Street NW featured a number of concep- ing or light post as a specific landmark for rocks along the beach, holes dug in the This artistic rebirth had been orches- tual projects. Among them: sculptor David “magnetic north,” Schwebler would estab- sand—all would be erased, washed away trated. Schwebler coordinated with friends Stanton’s wooden grill with burning char- lish an arbitrary point due south and con- by the tides. Allan Bridge, Susan Clemmer, and Sarah coal, Michael Breed’s row of ice blocks nect the two with a segmented line, creat- By March 1970, the marriage had disin- Montague-Selleck to assist him with the that melted throughout the evening, and ing a temporary relationship: As the earth tegrated, and Schwebler was institutional- project, while Yvonne Chabonier photo- painter-sculptor Jennie Lea Knight’s big makes its annual trip around the sun, the ized for two months at the Mendocino State graphed the process.9 The hair was eventu- circle of hay that children destroyed within precise location of magnetic north changes Hospital.5 Once discharged, he returned to ally placed in boxes, along with his psychiat- minutes. In fact, all the pieces on display ever so slightly. By the time that trip would Washington. For months, Schwebler failed ric evaluation. The resulting artwork would were created to self-destruct during the be complete, the painted segments would to report to his Army Reserve unit, or for be called Hair Piece. But, as Schwebler event, except for Schwebler’s. He drew a have worn away.12 further psychiatric evaluation. As a result, would state in an essay included with the line down the street, punctuated by discs The focus of Forgey’s article wasn’t the army activated him, which landed him work, it was only half of the act; the other nailed into the ground, to signify the direc- polarity, however, but a project called Alley in Walter Reed.6 Once again hospitalized, half was regrowing the hair. “If someone tion of the North Pole.11 The meaning of to Which the Sun Was Tied 23 Aug 1971 Schwebler went days without talking, until a wants to experience the creative act at the the piece wasn’t clear, nor was it explained 5:49 to 6:41 P.M. One of Schwebler’s friends doctor convinced him that, to be let out, he core of this [art] object they should cut their that it was part of a series created in several lived nearby, and Schwebler had noticed just had to talk and give him something for own hair.”10 locations near the P-street galleries and the a specific time of day when the darkened
8 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 9 the demarcations would have worn if the tabletop were erased or smudged away. As Forgey explained, “[t]he from use. Other wordplay was less suc- main point… is that this art is social cessful, like Exact Level: Level Exact, which and ethical rather than conven- was little more than a level, horizontal on tionally esthetic. …it mixes with life the wall, with the title stenciled above and itself with little care for categories. below. The title played off the trademark It cannot be conventionally traded Exact Level & Tool Mfg. Co., but who says in the art marketplace, nor can it “level exact”? Functionally it wasn’t as be conventionally preserved. It will successful as either the pencil or table: if last a short while, and it will last lon- removed from the wall it would destroy the ger in the memory of those lucky art object, but the level could just as easily enough to connect with it, but that’s be put back on the wall. about all.”13 Forgey’s article was a gift: a quar- While a work like Alley might later ter page tucked into the middle of the A inspire curator Walter Hopps to call section on a Friday night. Without the Schwebler the “prince of the poets coverage it’s less likely Schwebler would of space,” it was Magnetic North that have received his first gallery exhibition revealed his sense of humor in the six months later. Max Protetch and Har- process of its making. While sur- old Rivkin, owners of the Protetch-Rivkin veying and spray painting the word Gallery, ran the only DC space dealing “Magnetic North” on buildings, he primarily with conceptual art. But their and his assistants wore yellow hard gallery irked some in the community since hats with the label ARDHATCO they almost exclusively exhibited New York From Top: Pencil Piece No. 1 (this is not a drawing tool), stenciled on them. The hardhat sug- artists like Dennis Oppenheim, Sol Lewitt, 1971. Courtesy Anthony Cafritz. Plans for Sundial, c. 1971–72. Courtesy Enid Sanford. Yuri Schwebler creating Magnetic North, 1971. Image courtesy gested the “workers’” authenticity, and Vito Acconci. Corcoran director Wal- Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. but the label was simple wordplay. ter Hopps suggested they show some local Schwebler used wordplay else- talent.15 Upon seeing Schwebler’s work, the suspended by golden cords, represented alley would fill with sunlight. Then, the light where. For Drawing Table: Table Drawing he dealers gave him carte blanche to do as he the sun’s direct light. The aluminum on the would crawl away. It’s possible to think of drew a drafting table onto the tabletop of a wanted for an exhibition in March 1972. floor marked the phases of the moon: the him staring at the event with the same won- drafting table. He became known for hand- The result was Tool Alchemy—Phases of reflected light. They were the first of several derment of a child watching a bug crawl ing out pencils with the inscription “This Is the Moon, which consisted of three rectan- symbols Schwebler later would weave into across the ground, like seeing the world Not A Drawing Tool.” With a few words he gles outlined on the floor, with a separate projects when appropriate. again with fresh eyes: magic! transformed the pencil from drawing tool geometry in the center of each rectangle Also in March 1972, Forgey first wrote Schwebler outlined the sun’s progress into art object by conceptually negating made from spoon-rubbed aluminum pow- about Schwebler’s most audacious pro- down the alley for those 52 minutes. On its function: not a drawing tool.14 However, der. Each rectangle was illuminated by posal, converting the Washington Monu- any other day, the celestial event would if sharpened, it would cease being an art- a single bulb and framed by a column of ment into a sundial. A conceptual drawing misalign. The following year on August work and become a tool once again. The eight plumb bobs descending from the accompanied the article.16 At the time, Sun- 23, like the markings for Magnetic North same would be true of the drafting table ceiling. The bulb and the plumb bobs, dial was still just a proposal; seven weeks
10 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 11 From left: Model for 2 As 3, No. 3, c. 1972. Glass, steel cables, brass plumb bobs. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Installation view of 2 As 3, No. 2, 1972. Glass, spirit levels, steel cables, turnbuckles. Installation view of work installed in the Salem, NY.; Model for Untitled, c. 1972. Steel cables, brass plumb bobs. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. courtyard of the Phillips Collection. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
later it was approved by the National Cap- today are creating instant antiques.”19 This PACKAGED THE RIGHT WAY packaged what I wanted to do the right ital Parks for installation the following win- was a surprising statement from a former In July 1972 the Phillips Collection way,” Schwebler recalled in a 1978 Wash- ter.17 Two weeks after its approval, Washing- painter, and perhaps the underlying reason announced the appointment of curator ington Post Magazine story. “I gave the ton Post Style writer Henry Allen wrote in he stopped. Schwebler continued, “I want Richard Friedman, formerly of the Met- curator a new idea—put sculpture in the greater depth about the project, including the lifetime of my objects to correspond to ropolitan Museum of Art, and Castelli garden at the Phillips.”21 a comprehensive survey of Schwebler’s the lifetime of my ideas. Like chairs. When Gallery. Known for his eye for new talent, The inspiration for Schwebler’s Phillips conceptual California beach series, a men- chairs lose their conceptual function—as Friedman may have seen the Beverly Court Collection show was 2/3 Perfect, a simple tion of Hair Piece, and a reference to as something to sit in—we bust them up for exhibition at Pyramid Gallery in January rectangular column he had presented at yet unseen sculptures of plate glass, spirit kindling.”20 While the brash comments were 1973. An exhibition of 10 artists (Schwe- Pyramid Gallery. Constructed from glass, levels, and plumb bobs that sat in his yard, an embrace of ephemeral work, an under- bler among them), it wasn’t unified by any with plumb bobs in the center, its design which Schwebler would adjust every night, standing that art is something that can live style, but by the fact the artists all lived in echoed columns within the space. “All hard- like “turning up the heat in the house.”18 in the mind (perhaps only lives in the mind the same building. One evening Schwe- ness has been softened,”22 noted Washing- More eye opening were Schwebler’s of the beholder), before the end of the bler surprised fellow artists and Beverly ton Post art critic Paul Richard, commenting quotes: “[A] Rembrandt is just an antique. decade it would be clear that Schwebler Court residents Allen Appel and Allan on the effect the glass had on an otherwise The concept behind the work was forgotten considered this to be one of several poten- Bridge with the news that the new curator classical and rigid building support as it by centuries ago. If the concept is gone, why tial directions for his work. was coming to see their work. In the end, turns disappeared or appeared solid as it should the object exist? A lot of painters Friedman gave only Schwebler a show. ”I reflected the gallery around it.
12 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 13 Titled 2 as 3 Sculptures, the five sculp- this is where clever visual puns come into tures Schwebler created for the Phillips play. Schwebler bisected each equilateral Collection Garden each consisted of glass triangle through the middle with a plumb panes, most angled at 60°, held together by bob. As a result, he very subtly defined two turnbuckles and spirit levels. Plumb bobs right triangles with angles of 30, 60, and 90 dangled from their apexes, or toward a degrees. The two right triangles form the base vertex. As then Corcoran curator third equilateral triangle: 2 As 3. The same Nina Felshin would suggest in her article overall design was also true in the fifth for Woodwind,23 depending on the angle sculpture, No. 3, which consisted of two of the viewer, the triangular shapes might panes of glass vertically parallel to each nearly disappear or alternatively entrap the other, with plumb bobs between them. The elements of their surroundings by reflecting glass panes called attention to the vertical brick or greenery. legs of the right triangles, defined by the These glass sculptures broke from the plumb bobs bisecting an equilateral trian- element of time implied by works like Hair gle that was defined by steel cables and the Pyramids, c. 1974. Sand, plywood, brass plumb bobs. Installation inside the atrium of the Corcoran. Image courtesy Yuri Piece or Magnetic North, although Schwe- ground. “Out of weakness often comes cre- Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. bler continued to explore the alchemical ativity,”26 Schwebler wrote to conclude the possibilities of light apparent in his Pro- essay. These multiple reads into the work tetch-Rivkin show, or within Alley to Which certainly added intellectual heft. But they Not Remove This Wall,” on a wall where we the Sun Was Tied. Light was, after all, bend- didn’t outshine the elegant beauty created were working, we actually didn’t remove it, ing the objects surrounding the sculptures from spare materials with the simplest where many other crews would just knock through their reflections in the glass. But a design. it down.”27 Schwebler rented a truck and mathematical element also came into play: There was, of course, an additional read. suction cups to remove the windows of the the “perfect number” six. “About a year ago These were the “yard sculptures” Henry abandoned store, and convinced the Art I began consciously to determine my sculp- Allen referenced in his Sundial article, and Crew to help with the heavy, difficult, and tures by numerical values as both a mathe- they were easily accessible and personal dangerous job. Technically, their acquisi- matician and alchemist would,”24 Schwebler works for Schwebler to create. The plumb tion was an act of theft. “Yuri later told us he wrote in the exhibition’s pamphlet. bob and spirit level were borrowed from had no permission, just in passing, which is At face value, the five sculptures in the his experiences working as a carpenter, the way Yuri was.”28 garden seemed deliberately imperfect. “In and surveyor. The glass, however, was each of the sculptures shown in the Phillips “borrowed” from an old People’s Drug THE FOLDED FIVE TO THE CHOPPERS Collection garden the two sheets of glass Store scheduled to be demolished on the On November 3, 1972, collector and are trying to become triangles—a series of corner of 22nd and P Streets near Dupont Corcoran Gallery CEO Vincent Melzac, ‘2 As 3.’”25 In other words: the series pre- Circle. Schwebler worked construction appointed to reorganize the museum’s sented two sides of a triangle attempting periodically with a group of other artists beleaguered finances, punched Corcoran to become three sides. Most obviously, the called Art Crew, organized by Allan Bridge. director Gene Baro in the mouth. (Baro third side is completed by the spirit level “Architects liked to work with us,” recalled had been hired by Melzac to oversee Pyramids, c. 1974. Aluminum, brass plumb bobs. Installa- in four of the five sculptures. However, Allen Appel, “because if they wrote “Do the art side of the museum after Walter tion inside the atrium of the Corcoran. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
14 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 15 Hopps was let go over staff unionizing.) his work off of cosmologically significant it (unlike Lita Albuquerque’s The Red Pyr- A COUPLE HOPPS OUTSIDE DC Both were soon fired for the bloody brawl, mathematics. Bridge, however, was a mas- amid six years later, which removed turf The successes of Schwebler’s first three leaving Corcoran School of Art dean Roy ter carpenter, and figured out the amount and filled the bare ground left behind with years in Washington had placed his name Slade as acting director. This didn’t sit well of wood necessary to build a hollow pyra- brilliant red dry pigment to define the cor- on that special list of DC art stars that typi- with some artists in DC: Slade had a back- mid to the appropriate angle. He was also ners of an imaginary red pyramid buried cally included Rockne Krebs, Sam Gilliam, ground in 19th-century art, and the board responsible for determining how to mix beneath the Washington Monument). Once or Gene Davis. After the completion of was interested in steering the museum the chemicals and materials that coated the snow melted, the conceptual artwork, two museum shows and Sundial, he was away from contemporary shows. Sculptor the final structure. Most important, he and tool, would revert back to its origin as awarded a grant from the National Endow- Rockne Krebs, one of the city’s artists with prevented Schwebler from accidentally monument. ment for the Arts. By late 1974, Schwebler a national reputation, wrote a letter of pro- entombing one of the 30 assistants who However, it’s likely it wasn’t the func- helped found Fraser’s Stable Gallery with test and withdrew from an exhibition from came to help build the pyramids over the tional twist that interested him as much as William Chewning and Walter Hopps. As the gallery. As Schwebler recalled, “After course of the week. (The same couldn’t be the stark discovery that he wanted others Chewning remembers, Schwebler helped the Krebs thing… I knew Slade needed said for Slade’s chair, which lived inside a to see, much like he experienced when with installations, and Hopps curated friends, and I had a great idea—pyramids. pyramid throughout the exhibition.) Nearly watching sunlight fall into the alley behind shows while also editing a book of Dennis I told Slade I wanted to use both atriums 50 years later, the lack of credit to Bridge, his friend’s apartment. “I realized I had Hopper’s photographs—with Dennis Hop- at the Corcoran, something no artist had or anyone who helped Schwebler, still gets never seen the shadow of the Washing- per—from an office on the second floor.35 ever done before.”29 This collaboration under Appel’s skin. “Yuri would do it. The ton Monument because it was so huge,” Although this was a seemingly fallow gave Slade leverage with local galleries, show would open, and he would never Schwebler told CBS News. When he did period for Schwebler, his numerous inter- promising to show the work of area artists. mention Allan Bridge. He would never men- see it, he stood at the end of the shadow actions with Hopps kept him periodically All protests of his appointment blew over. tion anyone!”32 Tom Dowling came close. In and watched it move at a pace of four feet occupied, and gave him the opportunity Schwebler’s vision: construct three pyr- his article about the pyramid’s completion, per minute. “You can actually see the earth for international exposure. amids out of brick to a height of six feet, he referred to Bridge not by name, but as move, or feel it move, as and six smaller pyramids cast from alumi- “a geometrician-painter crony.”33 that shadow goes right num. Both sets of pyramids were designed The following month, Washington finally along,”34 Schwebler con- to the exact proportions of the pyramids experienced an adequate snowfall. Schwe- cluded. Once again, with at Giza, their bases predetermined by the bler and friends surveyed and plowed just the barest of design design etched into the Corcoran’s atrium ray-lines extending from the base of the and using the simplest glass floor. Unfortunately, Slade calculated Washington Monument, completing Sun- materials, he had created the 30-odd tons of bricks would collapse dial. While the idea was certainly clever, it fit something magical and the floor.30 Schwebler had one week to conceptually into his rubric of transforma- transformative. consider a different material and pull the tion, if only in reverse. The pencil, as tool, For a man the Army installation together. he transformed into a conceptual artwork had discharged just three “Yuri would come up with these ideas,” by declaring it “not a drawing tool.” With years earlier because he Appel recalled. “Then, he almost always Sundial, he was transforming the art and seemed unable to keep asked Allan Bridge how to do it.”31 In the architecture of a monument into a tool, it together, he had man- case of the pyramids, Schwebler couldn’t and by virtue of the transformation, a con- aged all right, at least figure out the math to construct them— ceptual artwork, without directly impacting where the art world was Yuri Schwebler, Brushy Fork, WV, 1974. Pencil Drawing for Chico’s Bridge, 1975. Photographer: Frank P. Herrera. Photo Courtesy Enid Sanford. ironic for a guy who was basing some of the structure or the grounds surrounding concerned. courtesy Frank P. Herrera.
16 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 17 4 was, again, math inspired. Consisting of six teepee-like structures, the legs of each cone were multiples of three (3, 6, 9, 12) or four (4, 8, 12). In the center of each hung a “plumb bob” of volcanic rock. While the plumb bob materials deviated from the original alchemic properties of gold and silver—light and reflected light—they had more to do with what they pointed to: the magma below the earth’s surface. It was another opportunity for Schwebler to play with the idea of cycles. Liquid magma Six Sculptures Between 3 and 4, 1976. Steel rod, steel cable, lava rock. Installation at Artpark. Image courtesy pushed through the earth’s surface, cooled Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. into rock, and was appropriated by the artist to use as a weight that pointed to Merce Cunningham dance. Rauschenberg its origin. Cycles were certainly present in and Cunningham were bickering over who other works, like Alley, Magnetic North, and had ownership of the original work; Hopps Sundial, which dealt with the earth’s daily or commissioned the replica so that Cunning- annual rotation. Even his early beach pieces ham had something to dance around on dealt with the cycles of the tide, influenced PBS, while the piece Rauschenberg created by the moon’s effect on the earth. On a could live at the museum for a retrospective long enough timeline, that volcanic rock will Plans for Dix X, c. 1976–77. Courtesy Enid Sanford. Maquette of Chico’s Bridge by Yuri Schwebler on the 3rd of his work.36 eventually return to the molten river from Floor Landing of the National Collection of Fine Arts, 1975. Silver gelatin photograph. Courtesy Smithsonian American With Hopps in Schwebler’s corner, which it formed. Art Museum. other doors opened. In 1976 and 1977, he The Paris Biennale promoted exciting most expensive work in the underfunded was invited to make site-specific sculptures art by young artists, and Schwebler had biennial.37 In 1975, Hopps commissioned Schwe- at Artpark near Niagara Falls, and for the been nominated by Hopps. He proposed The cost is amusing, considering the bler to complete an installation for a stair- 10th Biennale of Young Artists in Paris, suspending 12 cables from the six columns piece was also a bit of a dick joke. Schwe- well at the National Collection of Fine respectively. In both locations he would on either side of the pavilion in the Palais de bler liked to mispronounce the work as Arts (now the Smithsonian American Art create simple and elegant installations, Tokyo at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la “Dicks Itch,” perhaps playing off a stereo- Museum), where he was a curator. Initially precisely made from the sparest of parts, Ville de Paris. The cables would crisscross, type of postwar relationships soldiers had entitled Chico’s Bridge, the work was never and responding to their environments: to forming an X—the Roman numeral for 10, with French women, or winking at his own installed, possibly because the large panes the numerous Native American tribes in for the 10th Biennale—and his iconic plumb reputation as a Lothario.38 It could be he just of plate glass frightened the staff who western New York state, and to the lattice bobs would dangle from their intersections. liked puns, as letters from 1976 between might walk beneath. In 1976, Hopps tasked ironwork of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The number of intersecting cables was later him and U.S. Commissioner for the Paris Schwebler and painter Michal Hunter to cre- Artpark was founded in 1974 in honor of revised to 10, resulting in the title Dix X—dix Biennale, Nina Felshin, referred to Artpark ate a replica of the Robert Rauschenberg Robert Smithson. Schwebler’s installation, is the French word for 10. Although such as “odd park,” because it was in the middle combine Minutiae for a PBS broadcast of a Six Sculptures Between the Numbers 3 and a simple-looking project, it became the of nowhere.
18 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 19 RECREATION OR ANTIQUING However, by his own estimation, this was recreations of the idea, not reproductions In September 1975, Schwebler outlined a an area he was still defining for himself in of past work. They were “objects at rest,” series of works to complete in the coming the early part of the 1970s. As he wrote, works in the “spiritual plane.” months (and years). It reflected on earlier “Within my cyclic structure… the art work It wasn’t a new process. Schwebler works made in California, and suggested a begins as an idea, crosses three planes of began boxing artifacts in 1971. The large way of reworking earlier tool pieces. “Those reality—the mental, the physical, the spiri- sculpture Three Pounds presents a sheep pieces need to be redone because they are tual—and ends as an idea. A process which comb on a scale at the base, with a plumb important in my development,” he wrote. may be repeated continually. The six-fold bob attached to the top: a Dada-esque bri- “Instead of the funky way they were pre- metamorphosis that an artwork undergoes colage with the golden touch of Midas dan- sented originally they should be presented is illustrated in the following chart: gling above. Additionally, the concept of in boxes. Tool boxes—after all they are now MENTAL PLANE: making work that replicates an ephemeral, Protractor, 1977. Protractor, glass, wood, 16.25 x 16.25 x objects at rest now [sic]”39 Concept–––Realization (artist) conceptual work was something he had 8 in. Courtesy Lowell Doud Collection at Iowa Wesleyan University. In a way, the need to do this seemed PHYSICAL PLANE: done since late 1973. Around the same time an ironic twist to his earlier statements Creation–––Destruction (the thing itself) he placed pyramids inside the Corcoran, that railed against painters making instant SPIRITUAL PLANE: the larger concept was to reconstruct a of a work’s limitations as he whips its com- antiques. For an artist who “made art that Perception–––Recreation (audience) pyramid on the National Mall between ponent parts in and out of an ‘Enclosing’ by definition would interact and eventually In recreation, which takes place both in the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington box.”42 While some boxes neatly contained be destroyed by natural forces,”40 he was memory of those who saw the artwork and Monument. Although never approved (and their tools, others allowed rulers and plumb consciously creating works that would live were touched by it and the artist, is the only likely never formally proposed), the goal bobs to break the confines of their sarcoph- on a wall or shelf, that would be sheltered stage where a work can have existence after was to raise a large silver balloon lifting agi. The works were charming. While each from every natural force except time and it has physically disappeared. As memory four golden chords in the shape of a pyr- contained some assemblage of tools, many gravity, or until some clumsy custodian fades the art idea will die with it, but if the amid. A plumb bob would of course dan- seemed like tools themselves: as if they might break the piece. memory lingers there is a chance for rebirth gle through the center. Additionally, illus- might measure the rotation of the earth which may trigger a new chain of events.”41 trations of the conceptual pyramid on the from your living room wall. Undoubtedly, several of Schwebler’s National Mall were superimposed onto a Recycling happened outside the gal- earlier works had Duchampian qualities, series of commercially available post cards, lery, too. By 1978, Schwebler repurposed with their punning titles, or by the simple and later exhibited at the Jefferson Place the forms of past Phillips Collection gar- insertion of a functional tool into an art con- Gallery in 1974. However, these were less den sculptures for the postage-stamp text. Yet, given the sincerity of his “Cyclic like artworks in his spiritual plane and more front lawns of the nearby homes of Wil- Structures Manifesto,” it’s unlikely that any like exhibition mementos in the gift shop. liam Chewning and Frederick Kellogg. effort to recreate past works, and encase The “Tool Boxes” finally saw an audience Chewning received two tall pink granite them in boxes, had the cynical motivations in Schwebler’s 1977 exhibition at Fraser’s plinths titled Noon Mark, similar to 2 As 3 that Duchamp presented in his Boîte-en-va- Stable Gallery. Writing in the Washington No. 3. Kellogg displayed the v-shaped Fif- lise, or “box in a suitcase.” Those works con- Star, critic David Tannous said, “Schwebler ty-Fifty, similar in composition to 2 As 3 No. tained reproductions of his earlier pieces plays power games with these artifacts, 1. Stone replaced glass, causing each work Fifty-Fifty, 1978. Ribbon slate, aluminum I-beam, stainless steel cable, brass plumb bob, turnbuckles, 5 x 12 x 3 ft. in order to question the authenticity of the balancing tensions and masses, measuring to appear heavier. Schwebler as alchemist Commissioned by Frederick Kellogg. Located at 2027 Q original. By contrast, Schwebler was creat- lengths and forces, restraining objects and and magician didn’t mind viewers seeing St. NW, Washington, DC. Image courtesy Hudson River Museum Archives. ing coffins for old work. These pieces were releasing them, topping with the concept the wires, and the contrast between thick,
20 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 21 With the decade coming to an end, the dating back centuries, as Schwebler visually art community,” Connole thought, aware presentation of rocks and glass seemed noted in The Scale of Man, which included that although Schwebler liked the atten- to close a cycle. The decade began with an armature designed to look like Michel- tion and celebration of an opening, he also Schwebler on a beach, working with sand angelo’s David. Another Renaissance nod disdained some of its pretensions. Despite and rock. At Diane Brown Gallery, he was was included with the piece The Scale of the commercially successful and covetable working with the same elements, only with the Horse which positioned a drawing of boxes of his recent exhibitions, in the ser- the sand having been turned into glass. a horse’s skeleton—vaguely reminiscent of vice of moving his work in a new direction, With the ideas contained in their boxes, Leonardo’s great (and never completed) he had deliberately created works that were Schwebler could bury them; they didn’t equestrian monument for Ludovico Sforza— impossible to sell. “A lot of the art at that need to linger with him any longer. He had on the wall behind the scale. Clearly, these time was a sort of, ‘fuck you.’”44 new ideas to consider in the new decade. tableaus still possessed some of the same Forgey, who liked the work, called it Mirror Furl, c. 1979. Glass, rocks, wood. Collection of Alan Stone. Image courtesy Hudson River Museum Archives. DNA of earlier pieces—the artist’s tools in something else: schoolmasterish, like SPACE ART: ART SPACE a defined space. While the tool boxes had being lectured to. “This is perhaps another When Mary Connole walked into the open- Duchampian and Dadaist qualities trans- way of saying that the piece does not quite heavy stone and thin, delicate wire made ing of Schwebler’s last exhibition with Diane forming the everyday object into a work of attain that magical presence, that necessary the works seem constructed by other- Brown in 1980, Schwebler stalked through art, these were a step beyond. The gallery interaction between space and object, that worldly means. the gallery with a six-pack of cheap beer setup suggested a conceptual albeit “work- characterizes Schwebler’s best works…”45 Schwebler returned to the conceptual clinging to his belt. As the bartender at ing” sculpture studio, with its many compo- At the time it may have been unclear how works made in California during his 1979 Columbia Station, she had gotten to know nents. Schwebler was making sculptures of far Schwebler would take the work, but exhibition at Diane Brown, Not a Plumb Schwebler well, and they became friends. the things that helped figurative sculptors it became clear what direction the work Bob in Sight. Instead of rocks washed He looked at her with a twinkle in his eye make figurative sculptures. “It seemed to be would take Schwebler: he was headed away by the tides, he presented a series and an impish smile. “It was a sort of, ‘can punching holes in the establishment of the north. There was an exhibition on the hori- of boxes containing rocks, plates of glass, you believe this?’,” she recalled.43 zon in New York. and mirrors. Depending on their place- A decade creating site-specific works The previous summer, while attending ment, the work might seem infinite: a visual and installations eventually led to com- a residency in Paris through the Georges game between the real objects, and their missions, both in the front yards of DC Pompidou Foundation, supported by the reflected and refracted likenesses. For residents and for communities in Europe. Menil family foundation (another Hopps example, a work like Kiva, now part of the Past conceptual projects had been trans- connection), Schwebler communicated Corcoran Leagcy Collection at the Ameri- formed into intimate Cornell-like boxes with Richard Koshalek, director of the can University Museum, contains a half-cir- of rocks, glass, and mirrors, which Diane Hudson River Museum, about having an cle of rocks and glass. Against the backdrop Brown had previously exhibited and sold. exhibition. The two met years earlier, when of a mirror, the objects form a complete cir- Their predecessors—“Tool Boxes,” boxes Koshalek was working in Washington with cle: a loop, a cycle. Like the sculptures in with rulers and plumb bobs—were also the National Endowment for the Arts. Since the garden of the Phillips Collection, these highly coveted at Fraser’s Stable. For this becoming director, his goals for the under- assemblages of rock and glass would also last exhibition at Diane Brown, Schwebler water museum were to make it solvent, ask capture their surroundings, pulling them presented the contraptions used by sculp- Red Grooms to redesign the book store, Giacometti’s Table (Where Painting Meets Sculpture), 1981. and the viewer into the confines of the box, tors to scale models of the head, body, and Yuri Schwebler Archive, New York City, New York. and bring innovative contemporary artists and bending their image in the glass panes. horse. Similar devices were used in ateliers in to exhibit.46
22 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 23 The idea he proposed to Koshalek However, a few months of living with of junk. Frank Herrera recalled a summer became The Studio. Building on the con- Schwebler had likely awakened that con- in West Virginia where Schwebler ditched cept behind the Diane Brown Gallery ceptual art sensibility. In October 1980, studio time to fix a truck, bought with NEA exhibit and informed by documentary Bridge posted bills around town promot- money.51 And when he was awarded a stu- photographs, Schwebler would reconstruct ing The Apology Line, where people could dio at the Johnson Avenue Workshop, run the chaotic space of Alexander Calder, the call and leave an apology on an answer- by Rockne Krebs and Sam Gilliam, he used controlled environment of Mondrian, the ing machine—a precursor of sorts to Frank the space to plan his Corcoran exhibition, tight quarters of Giacometti’s Table, the Warren’s postcard-based PostSecret. But not to physically make sculpture. bulky objects and tools of Brancusi, and the Bridge also found Schwebler impossible Joel Holub, a high-school senior in 1981, improvised working conditions David Smith to live with: He was erratic, and kept odd worked briefly for Schwebler as a studio encountered in Voltri, Italy. These tableaus hours. Some nights Bridge might find him assistant in Hempsted; Schwebler was the represented the “materials of the studio.” blasting the Talking Heads at one in the first professional artist he had met. It was Recent works from the Diane Brown exhi- morning.48 The living relationship became awkward; unlike raying lines for Sundial, bition would represent the “tools of the untenable, and Bridge wrote a note to or constructing pyramids in the Corcoran, studio.” Older works—like Drawing Table: Schwebler, requesting he move out—that Schwebler didn’t seem to know what to do Table Drawing—and others in progress he’d rather have a friend than a tenant who with the help this time. He showed Holub would represent the “structures of the was remiss in paying rent.49 It’s also likely some past works, and works in progress. studio.” Included with the exhibition was he had been kicked out because Schwe- They moved some completed sculptures a dance by Holly Fairbank, titled Shared bler made a pass at Bridge’s new girlfriend, around, preparing them to get moved into Space, a performance piece echoing what Marissa, whom Bridge would later marry.50 a summer exhibition space at FAMLI while dance troupes often did throughout the Fortunately, Schwebler had been split- also making more space to complete work city: share space with artists to rehearse. ting his time between Bridge’s apartment, before the fall opening. Although Holub Undoubtedly, Schwebler’s experience and a studio space at the Fine Art Museum didn’t think Schwebler was living there—and reconstructing Rauschenberg’s Minutiae Long Island (FAMLI), in Hempstead, where didn’t know how anyone could, consider- played some part in the development of he was an artist in residence. It is likely he ing it was a bit moldy—it was clear from the this piece. It didn’t hurt that Fairbanks stud- retreated to this space, taking full advan- beer cans and cigarette butts that he was ied with Merce Cunningham at the time.47 tage of the “residency.” It was a large shell spending a lot of time there. Holub asked if To complete the project, Schwebler left of a space, occupying what had once been the debris on the floor was intended to be DC for New York, and moved in with Allan the basement floor of a Grant’s Department an installation.52 Eventually, it became the
From top: SHARED SPACE, 1981. Live performance. Bridge. Bridge had shed the geometric Store—more than enough room to create sculpture Orange Front Studio Site. Sculpture: Yuri Schwebler, music: S. Lehrer, Haydn, Suicide. abstractions he once painted in Washing- sculptures of the spaces where sculptors Schwebler could be forgiven for not Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY, (Nov. 15, 1981–Jan. 10, 1982), cast: T. Cummings, H. Fairbank, P. Miller, M. VanVort. ton, along with the conceptual morality made sculptures. There was some irony knowing what to do with an assistant. He Image courtesy Holly Fairbank. machines inspired by his years of shoplift- to this task. Past roommates don’t recall had a lot on his mind. Apart from scram- Allan Bridge Overlooking Yuri’s Hovel, 1981. Photographer: ing. He had given up on art and remade Schwebler’s studio. At the Beverly Court, bling to get all the work completed, his Paul Barth. Photo courtesy Paul Barth. himself as a full-time master carpenter, Appel remembered Schwebler converted friendship with Bridge had self-destructed. rolling a cart of tools through subway turn- one room into a little white-walled gallery The Hudson River Museum, now under the stiles, working his trade. to show curators his glass sculptures. The directorship of Peter Langlykke, was in rest of his spaces were just messy heaps financial distress, and there were concerns
24 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 25 it might close.53 Its past director, Koshalek, was now 3,000 miles away, working as the new deputy director of the Museum of Con- temporary Art, Los Angeles. While the Hud- son River Museum was attempting to fix its finances, Schwebler was working on NEA grants—both with the museum and individ- ually—to be able to afford the performance choreographed by Fairbank. By the time The Studio opened, every- thing came together. The Hudson River Museum received financial support for the exhibition from the NEA, as well as favor- able reviews for both the dance and the installation. The New York Times called it “a thought-provoking, esthetically stimu- Untitled (Haystacks), c. 1983. Mixed media on paper. Untitled (Burning Haystack), c. 1983. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford. Courtesy Enid Sanford. lating and very beautiful show.”54 Things appeared to be looking up for Schwebler as well. In 1982, he would receive a $25,000 with Cafritz his hopes for future work. He One possible explanation, Cafritz spec- Drawing for an Unrealized Sculpture (possibly a sketch NEA Grant for his proposal to continue the for Tingluey’s Throne), c.1982–84. Mixed media on paper. wanted to recreate all of the pieces from the ulated, was the energy Schwebler spent work he had started at the Hudson River Courtesy Enid Sanford. exhibition at the Hudson River Museum into overseeing the renovations to the house. Museum. His plans included tableaus of steel or cast bronze for an outdoor setting, As Sanford recalled, Schwebler didn’t need Joseph Cornell’s studio, the destruction of his father and moved to New York. There, like at Artpark. He wanted to think of the to do that. And for all intents and purposes, Kurt Schwitter’s Merzbau, and a sculpture she happened to encounter Schwebler, an works as architecture.56 he probably shouldn’t have. He had just dedicated to Tinguely.55 art-world friend from DC whom she remem- Schwebler also shared visions from his received an NEA grant to expand the series Unfortunately, little would come of it. bered as one of the few men who might pay childhood that kept haunting him. During of artist studios. However, he also lacked a The Hudson River Museum would be his visits to the studios of women making art. the war, as his family escaped to Germany, working space, and needed to build out a last major exhibition. There’s no record of They dated. After the conclusion of The he recalled haystacks on fire, and bombed- studio space in the garage. any effort to make the work he proposed to Studio, they bought a house in Milton, New out buildings with nothing left but stairways Unfortunately, the Hudson River the NEA, apart from a possible sketch for York, a property along the Hudson that to nowhere. He wanted to make these into Museum exhibition became the launch that Tinguely’s Throne. Although he continued included an acre of the river in the deed. environments, too, and spoke specifically wasn’t, for many logical reasons. Although to make work, Schwebler’s life would take Cafritz helped Schwebler clean out the stu- of an enclosure that would contain large John Caldwell’s review of Schwebler’s exhi- a different direction. dio space in Hempsted, Long Island, and “hay stacks,” made from strands of brass. bition hailed the Hudson River Museum as move the items to Milton. They spent two A butane torch would be hidden inside, “quite simply the best place in the New York WHAT HAPPENED? days loading a box truck, and Schwebler and shoot flames from the top.57 Aside metropolitan region to see the art of our Sculptor Anthony Cafritz didn’t get to know taught the young sculptor—then a student from some beautifully haunting drawings own day,”58 it was far easier for New Yorkers Schwebler until late in 1982. In 1981 his at Bennington—how to move many of the of burning hay fields, these works never to get to MoMA, the Guggenheim, or the mother, artist Enid Sanford, had divorced heavy items in his studio. He also shared came to be. Whitney, than it was to travel up to Yonkers.
26 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 27 The exhibition also ran in the middle of are, however, records of him dealing with Schwebler argued that modern art objects with rocks and sand on a beach, and ending recessions that wouldn’t end until 1983: depression, in one letter blaming the men- could be categorized as either residue of with rocks and glass (made from sand) in a after the close of the exhibition. tal illness for his failure to pay taxes to the the creative process or a record of creative box. The tool pieces came after the beach, By then, too, Conceptualism had fallen IRS and in another letter, dated 1986, for fail- development. “When Jackson Pollock drib- and the tool boxes came before the boxes out of vogue, unless it embraced the banal- ure to send Koshalek copies of his museum bled paint on a canvas to express a certain of glass and rocks. Bookends are also evi- ity of a vacuum cleaner in a vitrine. More exhibition catalog. It put a strain on his artis- feeling and then stopped when this was dent in the 1980s, which began with an established artists like Rauschenberg, Nam tic output, as well as on his relationship with transferred in paint, his painting may be exploration of artist studios. A decade later, June Paik, Ellsworth Kelly, and Frank Stella Sanford. Before the end of 1986 she moved considered a record of his mood on that the artist would be found dead in his studio. got the big museum surveys. Meanwhile, to her studio in SoHo, leaving him alone day.”61 And there are, at least, similarities With enough levity in creativity, a case painting was hot; the New York gallery in Milton. between the men. Pollock was an artist who, can be made about his artistic career within system was fawning over Jean-Michel Bas- People who knew Schwebler knew his arguably, also committed suicide. Both men the confines of both his Cyclic Structure quiat, Keith Herring, David Salle, and Julian mercurial moods; he could transition in died in their vehicles in their mid-40s, after Manifesto and the perfect number con- Schnabel. seconds from a man buoyant with enthu- a lull in art-making, and estranged from ceptually undergirding some of his early The big champions of Schwebler’s siasm and humor to a sullen, moping mess their partners. Pollock died in 1956, the work. He spent the decade of the ’60s work had also moved on. Koshalek was in who might fly into a fit of rage. Very few year Schwebler came to the United States. studying to become an artist: the mental Los Angeles at MOCA. Apologetic that he knew about his psychiatric stays at Walter And, while there is no evidence to suggest plane. He spent two decades, in the 1970s had missed Schwebler’s big show at the Reed, or in California after the collapse of Pollock’s studio was ever considered for a and 1980s, being an artist: the physical Hudson River Museum, he was still inter- his marriage; fewer knew he had been mar- Schwebler artwork, he was likely well aware plane. Over the last three decades, he has ested in helping him. He wrote Schwebler ried. Practically no one knew of an apparent of Hans Namuth’s photos of Pollock work- been remembered for his art: the spiritual in 1982, and requested catalogs to share suicide attempt in the mid 1960s. By 1990 ing in his studio. (The Pollock-Krasner stu- plane. 1 decade + 2 decades + 3 decades with colleagues in Los Angeles. Schwebler his mental health was again poor, and ulti- dio opened to the public in 1988.) = 6 decades, or 60 years. 60 is also the never sent them.59 Hopps had moved to mately led to his suicide. On March 3, 1990, There are other coincidences. For some, number of degrees in an equilateral trian- The Menil Collection in Houston. He kindly Cafritz came to the house in Milton, where it’s important not to hew too closely in them gle, just like the sculptures inspired by the included Schwebler in a group show at the he found Schwebler in the front seat of his as cycles. But some seem unmistakeable. perfect number 6, exhibited in the Phillips Washington Project for the Arts in late 1982, truck, parked inside the closed garage, His identity is one such example. Born Collection garden. but it’s unclear if the two kept in touch there- which doubled as his studio. Three Camel as Yuri, he came to the United States and It’s worth noting that shortly after Schwe- after. Brown had moved her gallery to New unfiltered cigarette butts were in the ash- changed his name to George, a chance to bler’s death, a group of friends attempted York in 1983, partly due to the struggles of tray, and his head was resting on a pillow, be reborn. While he was casually known to organize a memorial retrospective of his making it in DC Like many other friends and propped up on a book about Jackson Pol- as Yuri after being drafted, it was after he work in Washington. The Corcoran seemed past colleagues, Schwebler hadn’t kept in lock.60 He was 47. left the Army Reserves that he could offi- a logical choice, given how much press he touch with her after he left Washington and cially shed the name George: a chance to had generated for the institution when play- consequently didn’t show with Diane Brown CYCLIC STRUCTURES be born again as Yuri, as symbolized by ing pharaoh. But they weren’t interested— Gallery after it relocated. AND COINCIDENCES Hair Piece. Roy Slade had long since left the museum. Schwebler’s career stalled. He was Considering Schwebler was never a paint- As noted previously, the early works of The Phillips Collection wasn’t interested removed from friends and isolated from the thrower, it’s an odd detail to know about the the 1970s—conceptual beach sculptures either, and most of the galleries that had art world. He dabbled with some projects: Jackson Pollock book. But he had, in the and tool sculptures—were reimagined in once exhibited his work had closed. Efforts drawings, sculptures. Unfortunately, there is past, given Pollock’s work some thought. boxed sculptures by the decade’s end. This continued throughout the ‘90s, but never no record of him exhibiting the work. There Within his statement about Hair Piece, relationship is also symmetrical, beginning found a taker.
28 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 29 Schwebler’s exhibition of pyramids at Schwebler left an indelible impression to self-destruct. Magnetic North, Alley into the Spiritual Plane, and then disappear- the Corcoran in 1974 wasn’t accompanied on the people who knew him and on those To Which The Sun Was Tied, Sundial, and ing. Others writings criticize the art world by a pamphlet or catalog. At present, the who experienced the work. In Washington the installations at the Corcoran, Protetch- more broadly, stating “Art objects… do not American University Museum has four this was especially true during a time when Rivkin, Artpark, Paris, and the Phillips follow cyclic change. They are conceived, works by Schwebler in its possession: artists tended to embrace the abstract Collection garden no longer exist. Perhaps manufactured but then are maintained three of which were part of the 9,000 works approaches of color field painting, or push it is what makes him “the prince of the poets beyond the cyclic life of the concept.”63 offered to the university in the Corcoran against them via figurative or minimal of space,” since so many of these pieces These three statements aside, he did leave Legacy Collection. When it became clear means. Schwebler was one of the very few continue to live in the minds of those who behind a paper archive. The memorial ret- that the museum’s 2020 schedule would labeled a conceptual artist, and the only saw them. Fortunately, most continue to rospective that had been planned could be severely impacted by the global pan- conceptualist doing so in a consistently “exist” in photographs, where the memory not have been made without it, nor could demic, it presented a strange coincidence. meaningful way. To this day, for those who of such works might linger. the catalog. Although Schwebler was still not getting his have experienced his work, it’s impossible This ephemerality, unfortunately, has It seems Schwebler’s work was as rigor- memorial retrospective, at the very least he to look at a plumb bob and not think of him. extended to the works that initially sur- ously documented as it was created, and he got a catalog. His art was elegant through simple vived him. In the thirty years since his death, left behind a cache of writing, photographs, means—for instance, how a stretch of steel numerous works have gone missing, or plans, preparatory studies, and drawings. THE SPIRITUAL PLANE cable could function both to support the have been consumed by mice and molds. It’s likely because he still thought some of As a part of The Apology Line, Allan Bridge weight of heavier sculptural elements, and Even his last remaining outdoor sculpture those concepts were worth recalling. And, would record messages as Mr. Apol- serve to delineate the form of a composi- in DC, Fifty-Fifty, has been losing its battle technically, none of them are truly his: like ogy. Shortly after Schwebler’s death, he tion. Some works possessed an element of with time and the elements. Stone was pre- the shadow of the Washington Monument recorded this message in response to a magic, allowing the illusion of heavy stone ferred to glass when installed in the front moving, he just just happened to see them caller whose friend had committed suicide. or plate glass to appear perilously bal- lawn of Frederck Kellogg. But years of water and point them out. Ironically, by pointing Allan: Around the same time you made anced, as if floating. Other works dabbled penetrating its surface, and expanding with them out, he has imposed himself on those this call, I learned that an old artist friend of with the alchemy of gold and silver—sun and freezes, has caused pieces to crack and fall spaces and ideas. Can any artist of a certain mine had committed suicide. We were tight moon. But the greater alchemy was trans- off. Such a naked display of entropy cer- age look at the Washington Monument and for a long time but we had a falling out not forming something as seemingly innocuous tainly fits the canon of work initially defined not think of Schwebler? long after I started the Apology Line so I as a shaft of light or a cast shadow into an (in Washington) by Magnetic North, Sundial, On their own, the ideas he pointed out haven’t really seen him much for the last 8 event connecting people to the heavens. and Alley. Only Fifty-Fifty is disappearing remain timeless. While Schwebler may or 9 years. However, now that I’ve heard that The work also came with a cost. Their over the course of decades rather than eventually drift away from memory, the he’s dead, I keep thinking about him all the seemingly effortless elegance required weeks, days, or minutes. ideas will likely linger, and live indepen- time—he keeps popping into my thoughts. precise and exacting measurements to Although, it’s hard to say whether dent of Schwebler. Unquestionably, future And I keep remembering all these crazy inci- make them true, as observed with his Schwebler would be fine with his work generations of artists will be able to look at dents, and I realize that he was very influen- installations of pyramids, 2 As 3 Sculptures, crumbling in the front lawn of his friend and the Washington Monument and point out tial and of all my friends in my adult life, he or Six Sculptures Between the Numbers 3 lawyer. It’s true: he once noted, “I’m inter- its shadow to others; they too will watch the was the one who would constantly challenge & 4. For work that appeared effortless, ested in not imposing on the space but… earth move. me to do strange and different things, and it required tremendous effort to create. dealing with the structure of the space, and I realize that he was a very important influ- Additionally, many of Schwebler’s best somehow showing something that I saw in ence on me and now all of a sudden he is remembered works were also ephemeral: the place…”62 His Cyclical Structures man- gone but he has come alive in my thoughts. displayed for a limited time, or allowed ifesto certainly supports the work drifting
30 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 31 END NOTES 33 Ibid. 34 Bruce Morton. “The Washington Monument Has Turned into the Biggest Sundial in the World,” CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, 1 Yuri Schwebler. “Appendix I: Cyclic Structure as Art” c. 1973. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. February 11, 1974. 2 “Joanne Hedge Married in Double Ring Rites,” Grosse Pointe News, July 18, 1968, p. 24. 35 Chewning, William. Personal Interview. January 10, 2017. 3 Hamilton, David. Personal Interview. February 20, 2020 36 The Reminiscences of Caroline Huber (2015), pages 7–9: Robert Rauschenberg Oral History Project, Columbia Center for Oral History 4 Stark, Robert. Personal Interview. September 10, 2019. Research, Columbia University, New York City, New York. Online: http://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/sites/default/files/HUBER_ Caroline_final%20.pdf (Accessed March 28, 2020). 5 Guyden, Thomas E. M.D., Clinical Record, Narrative Summary, George Schwebler Jr., U.S. Army Reserves. December 21, 37 1970. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York “The Arts: An American in Paris,” Washington Star-News, October 6, 1977, D-3. 38 6 Roemer, Peter A. M.D. Letter to Commanding Officer of George Schwebler, U.S. Army Reserves, December 8, 1970. Lee Fleming, “Yuri Schwebler,” Washington Review, June-July 1980. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. 39 Yuri Schwebler. “Attempt to put my work in Chronological order.” September 1975. Yuri Schwebler Archive, New York City, New York. 7 Lee Fleming, “Yuri Schwebler,” Washington Review, June–July 1980. 40 Yuri Schwebler. “Appendix I: Cyclic Structure as Art” c. 1973. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. 8 Ibid. 41 Yuri Schwebler. “Appendix I: Cyclic Structure as Art, page 2” c. 1973. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. 9 Schwebler, Yuri. Notes, January 7, 1973. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. 42 David Tannous, “Galleries: Implied Thought of Yuri Schwebler,” Washington Star, January 23, 1977. G-20 10 Ibid. 43 Connole, Mary. Personal Interview. March 28, 2020. 11 Alma Robinson, “Art Comes to People At P Street Exhibit.” Washington Evening Star, June 18, 1971. B-5 44 Ibid. 12 Benjamin Forgey, “Social, Unconventional Art.” Washington Evening Star, September 24, 1971, A-14. 45 Benjamin Forgey, “Schwebler At Brown Gallery,” Washington Star-News, June 22, 1980. E-2 13 Ibid. 46 David L. Shirey. “New Breed of Museum Director,” The New York Times, Sept. 25, 1977. 554 14 Schwebler, Yuri. Untitled Note about the Pencils, undated. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. 47 Fairbank, Holly. “Re: Questions for Holly Fairbank per Yuri Schwebler-photos.” Email message to John Anderson. October 22, 2016. 15 Rivkin, Harold. Personal Interview. February 6, 2020. 48 Bridge, Melissa. Personal Interview. October 23, 2019. 16 Benjamin Forgey, “What Is Art? Here Are, at Least, Some Tentative Ideas,” Washington Evening Star, March 12, 1972. D-8 49 Bridge, Allan. Note to Yuri. Undated. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. 17 Dickenson, Russell E. Letter to Yuri Schwebler. April 21, 1972. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. 50 Bridge, Melissa. Personal Interview. October 23, 2019. 18 Henry Allen, “One Reason to Hope for Six Inches of Snow,” The Washington Post, May 10, 1972, C-1 51 Herrera, Frank. Personal Interview. February 25, 2020. 19 Ibid. 52 Holub, Joel. Personal Interview. October 1, 2019. 20 Ibid. 53 Tessa Melvin. “County Aid Sought To Rescue Museum.” The New York Times, March 22, 1981. 21 Bob Arnebeck, “The Art Game in Washington,” Washington Post Magazine, September 17, 1978, p.10 54 John Caldwell. “Art; Thought-Provoking Work at the Hudson.” The New York Times, November 15, 1981. 22 Paul Richard, “A Sense of Peace and Sharing.” The Washington Post, January 17, 1973. E-9 55 Schwebler, Yuri. Plans for the Period of the Fellowship. Undated, circa 1981. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. 23 Nina Felshin,“Review of Yuri Schwebler Exhibition.” Woodwind, September 11, 1973. p.13 56 Cafritz, Anthony. Personal Interview. January 3, 2020. 24 The Phillips Collection. Yuri Schwebler: 2 As 3 Sculptures. July 20, 1973, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. 57 Ibid. 25 Ibid. 58 John Caldwell. “Art; Thought-Provoking Work at the Hudson.” The New York Times, November 15, 1981. 26 Ibid. 59 Koshalek, Richard. Letter to Yuri Schwebler. July 20, 1982. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. 27 Appel, Allen. “Re: Yuri.” Email message to John Anderson. April 8, 2018. 60 Cafritz, Anthony. Personal Interview. January 3, 2020. 28 Ibid. 61 Schwebler, Yuri. Notes, January 7, 1973. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. 29 Bob Arnebeck, “The Art Game in Washington,” Washington Post Magazine, September 17, 1978, p. 11 62 Hartigan, Lynda Roscoe. The Studio: Sculpture by Yuri Schwebler. The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York. 1981. 30 Tom Dowling, “Playing Pharaoh in Just 24 Hours,” Washington Evening Star, January 14, 1974. B-1 63 Schwebler, Yuri. Untitled Note about Cyclic Change, undated. Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, New York. 31 Appel, Allen. Personal Interview. January 30, 2020. 32 Tom Dowling, “Playing Pharaoh in Just 24 Hours,” Washington Evening Star, January 14, 1974. B-1
32 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 33 Yuri Schwebler, Drawing Table-Table Drawing, 1971. 48 × 37.75 × 34 in. Courtesy of Enid Sanford.
Yuri Schwbler, Three Pounds, 1971. Cornell Box: 2/3 Perfect, 1973. Installation view of the piece in the scale, weight, plumb bob, 45 x 12 x 12 in. Courtesy exhibition The Beverly Court at Pyramid Gallery, 1973. Glass, of Frederick Kellogg. brass plumb bobs. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
34 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 35 From top: 2 As 3, No. 5, 1973. Glass, spirit levels, steel cables, turnbuckles. 2 As 3, No. 2, 1973. Glass, spirit levels, steel cables, turnbuckles. Installation Installation view of work installed in the courtyard of the Phillips Collection. view of work installed in the courtyard of the Phillips Collection. Image Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. 2 As 3, No. 1, 1973. Glass, spirit levels, steel cables, turnbuckles. Installation view of work installed in the courtyard of the Phillips Collection. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
2 As 3, No. 3, 1973. Glass, spirit levels, steel cables, turnbuckles. Installation view of work installed in the courtyard of the Phillips Collection. Image courtesy Hudson River Museum Archives.
36 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 37 From top: Pyramids, c. 1974. Aluminum, brass plumb bobs. Installation inside the atrium of the Corcoran. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.; Pyramids, c. 1974. Sand, plywood, brass plumb bobs. Installation inside the atrium of the Pyramids, c. 1974. Sand, plywood, brass plumb bobs. Installation inside the atrium of the Corcoran Gallery of Corcoran. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. Art. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
38 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 39 Yuri Schwebler, The Great Pyramid Transplant, Monument as Object, 1974. Manipulated postcards, framed: 22.5 × 28 in. Courtesy of Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
Plans for the Great Pyramid Transplant, c. 1973. Courtesy Enid Sanford.
Sketch for Pyramid Transplant/Monument As Object, 1973. Composite image photographed by Frank P. Herrera for Yuri Schwebler. Courtesy Frank P. Herrera.
40 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 41 Six Sculptures Between 3 and 4, 1976. Steel rod, steel cable, lava rock. Installation at Artpark. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
Sticks and Stones, 1972. Courtesy Enid Sanford. Six Sculptures Between 3 and 4, 1976. Steel rod, steel cable, lava rock. 90 Degrees, 1977. Protractor, glass, wood, plumb bob, 16.25 x 15 x 8 in. Courtesy Lowell Doud Collection at Installation at Artpark. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. Iowa Wesleyan University.
42 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 43 Yuri Schwebler, model for Dix X, commissioned piece in Paris. Courtesy of Ben Forgey.
Drawing for Dix X, 1977. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford. Dix X, 1977. 10 steel cables strung through the courtyard of the Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France during the 10th Biennale de Paris. Image courtesy Hudson River Museum Archives.
44 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 45 Noonmark, 1976. Tennessee sandstone, aluminum I-beam, stainless steel cable, brass plumb bob, turnbuckles, 9 x 13 x 3 ft. Alpha and Omega, 1977. Welded steel, 12 x 12 x 12 ft. Model for city gate for the town Commissioned by William Chewning. Formerly located at 2013 Q St. NW, Washington, DC. Image courtesy Hudson River of Herning, Denmark. Model pictured in Lund, Denmark. Image courtesy Hudson River Museum Archives. Museum Archives.
Circle, 1978. Square steel tubing, stainless steel cable, brass plumb bobs, 9 x 12 x 12 ft. Commissioned by Barbara Battin Pyramid Transplant, Paris, 1979. Courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. Fiedler. Formerly located near 1621 21st St. NW, Washington, DC. Image courtesy Hudson River Museum Archives.
46 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 47 The Scale of the Horse, 1980. Mixed media. Photo courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
The Architecture of the Studio (Mondrian), 1981. Courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
The Scale of Man, 1980. Mixed media. Courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
48 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 49 Drawing for an Unrealized Sculpture, 1979. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford.
Untitled Drawing, c. 1983–89. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford.
Drawing for an Unrealized Sculpture, 1979. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford.
Drawing for an Unrealized Sculpture, 1979. Mixed media on Untitled (Bound Hands), date unknown (c. 1983–89). paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford. Paint on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford. Untitled (Purple Haystack), c. 1983. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford.
50 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 51 Untitled (from the “Metric Carpenters Squares” Series), c. 1984. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford.
Untitled landscape, c. 1984–1989. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford. Untitled (Heart) (from the “Metric Carpenters Squares” Series), c. 1984. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford.
Untitled (from the “Metric Carpenters Squares” Series), c. 1984. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy Enid Sanford.
52 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 53 SCHWEBLER IN THE CITY By Benjamin Forgey
One quality that I remember with special beautiful and always amazing Washington long, spanking-new pathways fondness about the multifaceted art Yuri Monument. For four days in 1974, under leading straight to the great Schwebler created during the 1970s—his Schwebler’s direction, it became the cen- obelisk: what could they possi- extraordinary Washington decade—is its terpiece of the world’s tallest sundial. bly mean? But with the monu- intimate relationship with the city itself. This The idea came to the artist in 1972. It ment’s long shadow leading the quality showed itself most characteristically was bold, but simple: trace hour lines in the way, the tale revealed itself day in certain pieces he did early in the decade, snow. He planned the piece meticulously, by day until, on day four, the melt and in this brief essay I will concentrate researched the correct solar angles, made was total and the show was over. almost exclusively on these works. the necessary drawings and, in Christo-like But, like the words and actions Both literally and figuratively, Yuri left fashion, overcame bureaucratic hurdles. In in a great play, it was impossible his marks on Washington. Mind you, it is truth, to its lasting credit, the National Park to forget. not possible today to make a comprehen- Service pretty much loved the idea from the Fortunately, Yuri had a pro- sive tour of these marks. Though they were get-go. After that, all they had to do was fessional photographer friend conceived specifically for their particular wait for the weather to cooperate. who also was a licensed pilot. places—and even in a singular case for a As it turned out, that took a couple of This gentleman—John Bowden, particular day of the year—Schwebler’s out- years, but when the day finally arrived at the time a colleague of Yuri’s door works in DC also were intentionally things went like clockwork. The weather (and mine) at the Washington impermanent. Ephemeral, in the art jargon was perfect: snowy night, sunny day! At Star—volunteered to do a fly- of the day. dawn, after a nice snowfall leaving three over to shoot the obelisk/sundial The thing is, though, they also were to four manageable inches of snow on the from above (if proof be needed thoroughly original, poetic, challenging, monument’s grassy knoll, Schwebler stood that times have changed, pon- From top: Aerial view of Sundial, showing the 1974 finished piece. Photograph by and spirit-lifting. That is to say, they were at the obelisk’s base to indicate where each der the prospect today of get- John Bowden. Courtesy of Ben Forgey. memorable. Schwebler liked moving about of the hour lines should start, with a friend ting permission to fly a private Aerial photograph of the Washington monument, altered for Sundial plan by the capital city, and he did so with an acute (landscape architect Gordon Riggle) stand- plane over this hallowed turf: Yuri Schwebler in 1972. Courtesy of Ben Forgey. sense of its symbolic resonances and hid- ing on the perimeter. The NPS plows began zero). The resulting photograph den possibilities. More than any artist I can plowing. Hour by hour throughout the day, was a good match to an old aerial photo- “stands” for a man, a vertical tribute to a think of, he had it in him to expand our com- the plows followed the sun as it created the graph of the site Yuri had altered in 1972 founding national hero. It also is an inten- prehension of familiar streets and buildings lengthy shadow lines, and the shallow layer to demonstrate his concept to federal offi- tionally outstanding marker for an import- by extending our range of references. of snow left over after the plowing quickly cials—real life not so much imitating art as ant place in the city named for this man. In the most daring instance of this melted down to green grass. The transfor- validating it. It symbolizes the hero and the place and almost uncanny ability, Schwebler went mation was complete! Every place has layered meanings, and ties together the historical narrative of directly to the centerpiece of Washington’s For casual passersby, initially at least, Schwebler was adding rich, new contem- the national mall. These are the monu- monumental core. I’m referring, of course, the monumental mise-en-scène must have plative layers to the venerable obelisk and ment’s key cultural functions. By convert- to the world’s tallest masonry structure, the been both startling and puzzling. All those its grounds. The Washington Monument ing the monument even temporarily to
54 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 55 Sundial, 1974. Washington Monument, snow. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. Sundial, 1974. View from the top of the Washington Monument. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
56 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 57 the gnomon for a giant sundial, what Schwebler did in essence was “discover” and memorial- ize the element of time in this celebratory place. Time in its quotidian function, regulating the rhythms of our busy daily lives; in its familiar yet always mysterious sense of marking the continuous passage from present to past, and in its even more awesome sense of eternal passage—time before history, before culture. Time also figured promi- nently an earlier urban piece: Detail, Schwebler site plan for Sundial, upper left corner, showing calculations for hour line Alley To Which the Sun Was angles. Courtesy of Ben Forgey. Tied—on August 23, 1971, to be
precise, from 5:41 to 6:41 p.m. Yuri Schwebler creating Magnetic North, 1971. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY. Again, the idea was straightforward, orig- inal and directly affecting. Schwebler had observed a slice of bright sunlight as it sneaked between the sharp edges of two the sun as a drawing tool! And then, with- for a couple of young artists). Yuri would downtown buildings, defining a brilliant, out any conventional artistic huffing and locate and line up two surveyor’s points that narrow path on the grainy macadam sur- puffing, he was focusing on great natural happened to correlate with what a compass face of a downtown alley. He decided forces that shape our lives on our planet: told him was the direction of the magnetic to document this riveting passage with the gravitational pull of the sun that keeps pole—between two humdrum light poles stenciled notations on the macadam us on our daily circumnavigation around on opposite sides of Florida Avenue NW, along with the full title, in stenciled yel- it, the earth’s rotation on its axis, and the for instance, or from a point on the south low letters. operation of its own field of gravity, and the side of broad Massachusetts Avenue to To observe this phenomenon in real seemingly miraculous, life-giving relation- the long vertical slice of a building’s corner time was mesmerizing—you knew exactly ship between the two. on the north side. Then, wearing hard hats what was going to happen and then, The six Magnetic North pieces Schwe- with the official-sounding but meaningless suddenly, it did! With decisive alacrity, bler placed around and about in the early label ARDHATCO, he and a friend would right on time. Though entirely predict- ‘70s revealed a the mischievous wit that trace a line on a paved sidewalk or street able it felt like magic, and, in a way, it often enlivened his art. The process of with stenciled yellow or silver arrows and was. Schwebler was doing something Detail, Schwebler site plan for Sundial, showing lower half, with radial hour lines. making these totally improbable art works capital lettering indicating the direction: Courtesy of Ben Forgey. audacious in its simplicity: he was using pieces was itself fascinating (and lots of fun MAGNETIC NORTH.
58 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 59 Mirror Magnetic North, 1971. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
Washington is a city of well-educated memorialization? A reminder that things people but I’m not sure how many of our are not always what they seem to be? All of busy walkers got the point of those words these, and more? at first pass (it took me a while, and I was, Schwebler was sometimes categorized more or less, forewarned). The nature of the as a conceptual artist and, while it is true “destination” was the key. As opposed to that ideas played a crucial role in all of his the fixed position of the geographical north works, he was fundamentally a human- pole—often referred to as “true north”—the ist who wanted his art to communicate a magnetic north pole is related to a mass of sense of life’s complexity, urgency, brevity, molten iron in the earth’s core and conse- and beauty. He certainly did that in these quently, for reasons even science cannot unique “in the city” art works and, in the quite figure out, it shifts position over time. process, opened up intriguing new ways So, were these artworks a sarcastic to think about urban context in general commentary in this capital of competing and, with memorable specificity, that of political certitudes? A suggestion of mys- Washington, DC. terious instability in a city of monumental Yuri Schwebler creating Magnetic North, 1971. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
60 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 61 YURI SCHWEBLER BIO
1942 Abandons painting, and Writes proposal to National 1975 Drawings by Sculptors, Private commission Spiral, Born November 21, begins first conceptual works: Park Service for Washington Drawing in Washington, Corcoran Gallery of Art. for the Biltmore Ballroom. Monument Sundial Project. Feketic, Yugoslavia. Sonoma Mountain Project. Washington Project for Second Annual Exhibition, Phases of the Moon—Tool the Arts. Washington Project for 1980 1956 1970 Alchemy, Protetch-Rivken.* Helped co-found Fraser’s the Arts. Tools of the Studio, Emigrated to Wilmington, DE. Separates from Joanne Diane Brown Gallery.* Bridge-Schwebler, Stable Gallery, with William The American Section of the Hedge Schwebler, and Clark-Stark Studio. Chewning and Walter Hopps. Paris Biennale, Hudson River Marble Sculpture, Diane is institutionalized at the 1961 Museum, Yonkers, NY. Brown Sculpture Space. Mendocino State Hospital. Art for McGovern, Moves in with foster parents 1976 Returns to Washington, DC. Max Protetch Gallery. Commissioned by Aage Medicine Wheel, installed on the Delmarva Peninsula. Six Sculptures Between the Activated by Army Reserves, Damgaard to work on a at the Dupont Center, 11th Participates in an exhibition Numbers 3 and 4, Artpark, and institutionalized at Walter city gate for the town of International Sculpture 1962–5 at Instituto Guatemalteco Lewiston, New York. Reed General Hospital. Herning, Denmark. Produces Conference. Attends Western Maryland Americano, Guatemala City, Creates Hair Piece, leading Montgomery State College, maquette Alpha and Omega. College, Westminster, MD. Guatemala. to his discharge from the Rockville, MD. 1981 Studies philosophy and Army Reserves. Received Stern Foundation Works-in-Progress for The painting. Participates in two Oversees replication of 1978 Fellowship. Studio, Fine Arts Museum student exhibitions. Makes Robert Rauschenberg’s Five Washington Artists, Long Island, Hempstead, NY.* acquaintanceship with 1971 Minutiae, with Michal Hunter. Miami-Dade Community Returns to work at the 1973 College, Miami, FL, and Clyfford Still, and meets Dirty Works, a series of inter- The Studio, Hudson River Washington Star. Beverly Court, Museum of Fine Arts, St. with him on six occasions. ventions, with Laurie LeClair. Museum, Yonkers, NY.* Pyramid Gallery. Petersburg, FL. Makes first glass sculptures at DC and Los Angeles. his home in Waterford, VA. 2 As 3 Sculptures, Private commission Fifty-Fifty, 1965 Model for Chico’s Bridge, 1982 The Phillips Collection.* for Frederick Kellogg. Drafted by U.S. Army. Creates “Magnetic North” maquette for site-specific Awarded Visual Artist Works in Seaford, DE as lay- series, part of the P Street Received Workshop sculpture displayed on the Private commission Circle, Fellowship, National out engineer and surveyor. Exhibit. Fellowship, Washington 3rd floor of the National for Barbara Battin Fiedler. Endowment for the Arts. Gallery of Modern Art Fund. Creates Alley to Which the Collection of Fine Arts. Poetic Objects, Washington 1967 Sun Was Tied behind Muth Private commission Noon 1979 Project for the Arts. Moves to Washington, DC. Art Supply, near 1300 block 1974 Mark, for William Chewning. Sculptor and Study Drawings, Works for the Washington of New York Avenue. Pyramid Project, Art Barn. March 3, 1990 Star, and construction for Corcoran Gallery of Art.* Schwebler found dead Hayes, Saey, Mattern, 1977 Washington Art on Paper, The Washington Monument by suicide in his studio and Mattern. 1972 Objects, 1970–1977, Corcoran Gallery of Art. Sundial Project. in Milton, NY. Writes reviews of exhibitions Fraser’s Stable Gallery.* Recent Sculpture, for Manon Cleary at Franz 1968 Monument as Object, Drawings, Pyramid Diane Brown Gallery.* Bader Gallery (February), Permanent Collections: Marries Joanne Hedge and Jefferson Place Gallery.* Galleries, Ltd.* and Ray Johnson at Jacobs Artist in Residence, Centre American University Museum, moves to California. Ladder Gallery (March), for Submits letter of resignation Exhibited with a selection of Georges Pompidou, Paris. Washington, DC to the Washington Star, artists from Artpark, Hallwalls the Washington Star. La Nouvelle Carte Postale, Iowa Wesleyan University, 1969 effective June 21, 1974. Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Mount Pleasant, Iowa Teaches classes and exhibits Awarded Sculpture Dix X, “10th Biennale de Palais Du Louvre, Paris. at the Sausalito Art Center, Lehmbruck Museum, Fellowship, National Paris,” Paris, France. Sausalito, CA. Endowment for the Arts. Duisburg, Germany
All events and exhibitions Washington, DC, unless otherwise noted. * Denotes solo exhibition
62 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 63 YURI SCHWEBLER CV
Books and Catalogues Firmin, Sandra Q. et al. Wright, Martha McWilliams, Forgey, Benjamin, “Variations Dowling, Tom, “Playing Richard, Paul, “‘Inner Space’: Artpark: 1974—1984. “Washington Letter.” Pharaoh in Just 24 Hours.” Imperfect Rituals for an Schwebler, Yuri. 2 as 3 on a Theme,” Washington New York, NY: Princeton Art International 23:1 Washington Evening Star, Artist’s Compelling Beliefs,” Sculptures. Washington DC: Evening Star, May 15, 1972, Architectural Press, 2010. (April 1979) 43. Jan. 14, 1974, B -1. The Washington Post, Jan. 20, The Phillips Collection, 1973. C-10. 1979, D-3. Jean Lawlor Cohen, et al. Flemming, Lee, The Ear, “Haven’t We Sky, Alison, Michelle Stone, Allen, Henry, “One Reason to Washington Art Matters: Art “Yuri Schwebler,” Met Somewhere Before.” Forgey, Benjamin, “Yuri and contributing editor Hope for Six Inches of Snow.” Life in the Capital 1940-1990. The Washington Review 6:1 Washington Evening Star, Schwebler’s New Context for James Wines. On Site, vol. The Washington Post, May 10, Washington, DC: Washington (June-July 1980) 3-6. March 24, 1976, Section G-1 Old Concept.” Washington 5/6: On Energy. New York, 1972, C-1. Arts Museum, 2013. Star-News, Feb. 10, 1979, C-1. NY: SITE Inc., 1974. Forgey, Benjamin, “Art The Ear, “Won’t-Power For The Wary Ones.” Lewis, Jo Ann, “Multiple Edelman, Sharon. Artpark: Newspapers on the Brink of Maturity.” Washington Evening Star, Images in Mirrors, Glass, and The Program in Visual Arts, Magazines Washington Evening Star, Laver, Tina, “Young Living… March 25, 1976, G-1. Stone.” The Washington Post, 1974—1976. Buffalo, NY: Jan. 7, 1973, H-8, H-9. Forgey, Benjamin, In a Loft.” Washington Feb. 10, 1979, C-1, C-2. Artpark, University Press at “Washington: New Art, Evening Star, Oct. 16, 1969 Richard, Paul, “A Sense Forgey, Benjamin, “Nearby Forgey, Benjamin, Buffalo, SUNY at Buffalo. New Galleries, New Scene!” D1, D8. of Peace and Sharing.” Niagra, a Cascade of Art Flourishes in the Park.” “Schwebler At Brown Gallery.” Slade, Roy. The Corcoran & Art in America, 60:1 The Washington Post, Robinson, Alma, “Art Comes Washington Star-News, Washington Star-News, Washington Art. Washington (Jan. 1972): 106. Jan. 17, 1973, E-9. to People At P Street Exhibit.” Sept. 5, 1976, G-1, 20. June 22, 1980, E-2. DC: The Corcoran Gallery Felshin, Nina, “Review of Washington Evening Star, Allen, Henry, “It Means Delatiner, Barbara, of Art, 1976. Yuri Schwebler Exhibition.” June 18, 1971, B-5. Something, But What?” Tannous, David, “Galleries: Implied Thought of Yuri “Long Island Guide; ENERGY Felshin, Nina. An introduction Woodwind. (Sept. 1973), 13. The Washington Post, Forgey, Benjamin, “Social, Schwebler.” Washington Star- EFFICIENCY.” New York to the American artists, July 20, 1973, B-1. Forgey, Benjamin, “Yuri Unconventional Art.” News, Jan. 23, 1977, G-20. Times, Aug. 30, 1981 10th Biennale de Paris. Schwebler in Washington.” Washington Evening Star, Richard, Paul, “Sculpture Caldwell, John, “ART; Paris, France, 1977. Art in America, 62:1 (Jan. Sept. 24, 1971, A-14. Outside: Raising High the Forgey, Benjamin, “Galleries: Challenging Convention.” Thought-Provoking Work at Saltzmann, Siegfried. 1974) 109-110. Roof Beams.” The Washington Forgey, Benjamin, “What Is Washington Star-News, April the Hudson.” New York Times, Wilhelm-Lehmbruck- Post. Jan 9, 1974, B-1. Arti, Donna Bernard, and Art? Here Are, at Least, Some 3, 1977, G- 24 Nov. 15, 1981 Museum der Stadt Duisburg: Cynthia R. Field, “Beaux-Arts Tentative Ideas.” Washington Martin, Judith, Silverman, Jill, “DANCE; Plastiken and Objekte, vol. 1. Tradition at the Corcoran Evening Star, March 12, 1972, “Homage to the Pyramid.” Forgey, Benjamin, “Taking A Mix of Dance and Duisburg, Germany: Wilhelm- Gallery.” D-8. The Washington Post. 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64 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 65 JOHN JAMES ANDERSON
John James Anderson is an artist, writer, and curator, living and working in Southeast Michigan. As a professor at Prince George’s Community College, he curated media-based exhibitions supporting the curricula offered by the Art Department, including WYSIWYG, Drawing Perspectives, Painting into Sculpture, and Fabricated (about 3D printed art, co- curated with Joshua DeMonte and Davide Prete). Since leaving academia, his focus has been the history and artists of the Jefferson Place Gallery. In 2017, Anderson curated Making a Scene: The Jefferson Place, for the Alper Initiative for Washington Art at the American University Museum, which focused on the first six years of the gallery. Since, he has co-curated three exhibitions (with Meaghan Kent, and Caitlin Berry) in the series, “Women of the Jefferson Place,” for Marymount University, Arlington, VA; those exhibitions focused on the works of Hilda Thorpe, Mary Orwen, and Jennie Lea Knight. He also wrote the catalog essay for Built and Unbuilt: The Public Artworks of Sam Gilliam and Rockne Krebs, for an exhibition organized by Day Eight (a non-profit which supported the creation of the archive website, jeffersonplacegallery.com, in conjunction with Making a Scene). He has written for Washington City Paper, Art in America, Sculpture, and The Washington Times. He is represented by Adah Rose Gallery, Kensington, MD.
Yuri Schwebler, Dix X with view of the Eiffel Tower, 1977. Courtesy Enid Sanford.
66 | YURI SCHWEBLER YURI SCHWEBLER | 67 ALPER INITIATIVE FOR WASHINGTON ART
MISSION STATEMENT
The Alper Initiative for Washington Art
promotes an understanding and appreciation
of the art and artists of the Washington First published in conjunction with the planned exhibition Yuri Schwebler: The Spiritual Plane Metropolitan Area. We provide and staff a Scheduled June 16–August 9, 2020 American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center Washington, DC dedicated space located within the American
American University Museum University Museum, to present exhibitions, Sharon Christiansen, Manager, Museum Operations & Visitor Services Elizabeth Cowgill, Marketing & Publications Specialist Sarah Leary, Museum Operations Assistant programs, and resources for the study and Jessica Pochesci, Assistant Registrar Jack Rasmussen, Director & Curator encouragement of our creative community. Kevin Runyon, Preparator Kristi-Anne Shaer, Associate Director
Curated by John James Anderson Design by Lloyd Greenberg Design, LLC
Catalog © The American University Museum ISBN: 978-1-7347788-5-4
Cover: Mirror Magnetic North, 1971. Image courtesy Yuri Schwebler Archive, Salem, NY.
Back cover: Tool Alchemy, 1972. Installation view of an exhibition at Protech Rivkin. Image courtesy Hudson River Museum Archives.