BIOGRAPHY
American painter and sculptor Richard Artschwager’s work has been classified as Pop Art due to the work’s derivation from utilitarian objects; Minimalist, in reference to Artschwager’s use of reductive geometric forms; and Conceptual in describing the cerebral quality of the work. However, Artschwager often sought to confound such art-historical categories and challenge the relationship between perception and illusion. Artschwager’s early career as a furniture designer is evident in his later sculpture, which often mimicked the forms of furniture, employed synthetic materials such as Formica, and invoked a Minimalist aesthetic, probing the distinction between art and design. The artist’s late-career work alluded to current political issues through the appropriation or depiction of mass media imagery, such as in his portraits of George W. Bush and Trent Lott.
