The Sudden Omnipresence of Alan Saret

Alan Saret, Brick Wall and Sun, 1976, at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. 

Suddenly, Alan Saret is everywhere. His tangled, wiry 1988 sculpture The AF World was hanging mysteriously alongside pieces by Andre, Judd, Serra, and Sandback at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis this winter.  In New York, The Drawing Center had a show of his Gang Drawings earlier this year, the most recent exhibition of his work since James Cohan put some of his sculptures on display in 2004. Then, as I was walking through P.S.1 in late December, I discovered that the gapping hole in the wall on the fourth floor was his work, as well.

Roberto Bolaño's General Entrescu in 2666 would have loved it, "... finally he talked about cubism and modern painting and said that any abandoned wall or bombed-out wall was more interesting than the most famous cubist painting, never mind surrealism..."