Press Release

The last prints produced by Richard Serra, the result of more than forty years of collaboration with the Gemini G.E.L. workshop in Los Angeles, embody the culmination of long periods of research and experimentation in printmaking through a radical and singular practice that has profoundly shaped the history of contemporary print. For more than 35 years, Galerie Lelong has regularly presented Serra’s work.

Two series are brought together in this new exhibition: _Notebook Drawings _(2023) and Hitchcock (2024).

The Hitchcock series extends Serra’s exploration of the materiality of black. Produced without a press, these works are the result of an intense manual process, in which a dense mixture of black pigment, linseed oil, melted wax, and silica is directly applied to paper. Layer upon layer, this material creates surfaces of striking intensity, almost sculptural in presence. The black, omnipresent, absorbs and reflects light, generating an impression of monumental void. The edition consists of 56 impressions, each signed by the artist.

The Notebook Drawings series is freely inspired by the sketches Serra made in his notebooks. Their translation into printmaking represented a true technical challenge: preserving the raw energy of charcoal, its rubbings and textures. Copper plates were chemically bitten from rubbings made on the asphalt of the studio’s parking lot, producing works of strong presence—organic, dense, and anchored in space. Each print, limited to 40 impressions, bears on the verso the artist’s silkscreen stamp, as Serra passed away before he was able to sign them.

Richard Serra (1939–2024) is recognised as one of the most influential sculptors of the 21st century. His monumental oeuvre has been exhibited in the world’s greatest museums, while his site-specific installations have transformed public and private spaces across continents. He was the subject of two retrospectives at the MoMA (1986 and 2007), as well as major exhibitions at the Guggenheim Bilbao, Kunsthaus Bregenz, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Grand Palais in Paris (Monumenta 2008), and in the Qatari desert with East-West/West-East (2014). Serra also participated in four editions of Documenta (1972, 1977, 1982, 1987) and several Venice Biennales (1980, 1984, 2001, 2013), affirming his constant and essential presence in the landscape of contemporary art.

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About the Artist

Known for his for his large scale, site-specific steel sculptures, Richard Serra is an influential American Minimalist, based in New York and Nova Scotia. The Venice Golden-lion-winning artist’s extensive career is often discussed in relation to the development of contemporary public art and 20th-century minimalist sculpture.

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Also Exhibiting at Galerie Lelong

About the Gallery
Galerie Lelong is located in Paris and New York. It was founded by Jacques Dupin, Daniel Lelong and Jean Frémon.

The Paris gallery has been exhibiting recent works from artists of international standing since 1981. The 1980s were notable for artists who went on to become household names, including Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies, Francis Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, Eduardo Chillida, Paul Rebeyrolle, Pierre Alechinsky, but also for the next generation of artists: Konrad Klapheck, Jan Dibbets, Donald Judd, Robert Ryman, Richard Serra, Jannis Kounellis, Arnulf Rainer, Nicola De Maria and Jan Voss.

In the 1990s, the gallery hosted artists who represented major movements in contemporary art: Sean Scully, Günther Förg, Andy Goldsworthy, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Antonio Saura. The gallery also increased international recognition of the work of Ana Mendieta.

Since the turn of the century, Galerie Lelong has accentuated the geographical and expressive diversity of its artists: from sculpture and objects by Jaume Plensa, David Nash, Wolfgang Laib, Kiki Smith, Rebecca Horn, Barry Flanagan to installations by Barthélémy Toguo and Lin Tianmiao, without forgetting painting, namely David Hockney, Robert Motherwell, Kate Shepherd, Nalini Malani, Nancy Spero, Juan Uslé, Leon Kossoff.

Galerie Lelong has a large publishing department which produces and distributes engravings, lithographs, digital prints and multiple objects, and collates these works in catalogues raisonnés.

It produces monumental sculptures to order for public spaces and private clients.

The gallery is present at the leading international contemporary art fairs (Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Basel Hong Kong, Fiac Paris, Frieze London, Frieze New York, Arco Madrid, Art Brussels, Expo Chicago...).

The directors of the gallery are Jean Frémon, Daniel Lelong and Patrice Cotensin in Paris and Mary Sabbatino in New York.
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13 rue de Téhéran
Paris
France
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Tues - Fri, 10.30am - 6pm
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Paris 13 rue de Téhéran
Galerie Lelong
13 rue de Téhéran, Paris, France

Opening hours
Tues - Fri, 10.30am - 6pm
Sat, 2pm - 6.30pm
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