Two outdoor concrete block structures by conceptual pioneer Sol LeWitt inaugurate ICA Miami’s public sculpture program.
The concrete structures are important examples of LeWitt’s approach to Minimalism and composition, and an expression of the artist’s engagement with urbanism and intervention with public space. Rising over twenty feet high, Tower (Frankfurt), (1990) and Tower (Lodz) (1993) greet visitors at the entry to the Miami Design District, ICA Miami’s neighborhood partner, from Miami Beach. With their modular units and construction, the structures engage issues of production central to modern urban society.
Sol LeWitt (b. 1928, Hartford, Connecticut; d. 2007, New York City) was one of the pioneers of Conceptual art. LeWitt stressed the importance of the idea of art—that it was, in fact, the work of art—and that its ultimate production could be delegated. His works ranged from sculpture, painting, and drawing (most famously his wall drawings). He created systems, often mathematical or architectural in nature, as blueprints for creating art, which in turn, became the works of art themselves. LeWitt’s practice challenged fundamental beliefs in art, particularly the authority of the artist and his works eschew narrative or straightforward interpretation.