The Andy Goldsworthy Project

by Molly Donovan, Martin Kemp (Contributor), John Beardsley (Contributor)

The first significant scholarly volume devoted to Goldsworthy's work in nearly twenty years and the first to underscore the permanent output of this acclaimed artist. In January 2003 British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy was invited to create a work of art for the National Gallery of Art. The project began with a series of ephemeral works on Government Island in Stafford County, Virginia. From this phase a series of photographic suites and a diary remain. The second phase of the project resulted in Roof, a permanent, site-specific sculpture at the National Gallery comprising nine stacked-slate domes installed over the course of nine weeks by Goldsworthy, his assistant, and a group of British drystone wallers in the winter of 2004-2005.

This volume traces the development of Goldsworthy's project at the National Gallery from conception to completion and situates the artist's sculpture and practice within an age-long tradition of structures. It features the only fully illustrated catalogue documenting Goldsworthy's permanent installations-more than 120 works dating from 1984 to 2008 and spanning three continents. 260 color and 40 b/w photographs

Genres: Art

232 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2010

Reviews

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great catalogue of Andy Goldsworthy's sculptures. You can locate installations by either location or work of art with good descriptions of the materials, where the materials were sourced and motivations for design. There are also photos of how the works are created.

[Dani Shuping · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andy Goldsworthy is one of the most influential sculptors of the last 30 years. Goldsworthy is primarily an ephemeral artist, creating works out of natural materials that echo the surroundings of the environments they were created in, such as a rock covered in all one colored leaf or sculptures made of ice broken from the river. Many of these works only exist today in photographic evidence and book form. And that is where this book differs. Instead of focusing on the ephemeral art, it focuses on some of Goldsworthy's more permanent installations, such as the one that he created in 2003/04 for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. This book captures the process of creation of this work from its concept stage to the ending stage and offers commentary as well as photographic and document evidence. This book also serves as the only fully illustrated catalogue of Goldsworthy's more permanent installations. This book is a must own for any fan of Goldsworthy.

[Mitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both essays thoroughly explore "Roof" without overlapping each other. Donovan's essay amazed me with apt selections of Goldsworthy's words and his precedents/predecessors. Each section of her essay succeeded.

The catalogue of permanent works will prove a super helpful reference, although I found some descriptions' interpretations extending beyond their bounds.

[Kev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compendium of all of Goldsworthy's corpus in chronological order. Plus the installation at the East Wing National Gallery Washington DC! Excellent resource. Highly recommend it.