Post from Sid Sachs
[The art historian in Sid Sachs rose up from his armchair and had this to say about Barry Le Va at the ICA:]
Haven’t seen the show yet and looking at your write up [here and here] am even more intrigued. Would love to investigate the catalog. Unless there is a second work, “Cleaved Wall” seemed like a cop out. I remember a “Cleaved Wall” in a Whitney Biennial that was high up and dangerous like the sword of Damocles. This seemed like a safety net for insurance [Libby–I found a “Cleaved Wall” on the Web that looked just like the one at the ICA; Le Va has historically done his pieces in more than one way, but still sticking to a basic plan].
Also the riff on his importance to scatter works seems a little hyped. A lot of artists worked in this genre: Nauman, Fox, Bollinger, Pistolleto, Kaprow, even Andre had some small scatter pieces. Look at Eva Hesse’s “Tori” – how it spills out. Le Va wasn’t the only one. Sooner or later Apfelbaum and Kilimnik would have made their
work even without Le Va (image right, Hesse’s “Tori”).
