Louise Nevelson (born Leah Berliawsky) created elegant, room-sized sculptures throughout the post-war period, during which she honed her best-known artistic process, which involved salvaging cast-off wood parts – oftentimes recognisable household objects and architectural ornamentation – from New York City streets and arranging them in modular stacked, sprawling crates that she then painted in a unifying colour. Nevelson’s 1968 sculpture Homage to the Universe echoes abstract expressionism and Colour Field painting’s fascination with colossal scale, the use of non-traditional materials, and experimentation with bold formal gestures. Coated in a uniform layer of matte black paint, which at a distance reads as a solid plane, the intricacy of Homage to the Universe derives, in part, from the thrifty method of its construction, in addition to its thoughtful instrumentalisation of colour. Nevelson frequently spoke of black, the colour she most frequently used in her sculptures, as one of grace, dignity, and grandeur. Throughout the 1960s, Nevelson titled several of her large-scale wall works with the name “Homage,” reflecting social, religious, and personal issues. In some of these works, she pays tribute to broader concepts – the moon, the world. With Homage to the Universe, this homage is used to celestial effect, expressing awe at the depth and endlessness of the universe.
Madeline Weisburg
