Lika Mutal - Hardcover

Mutal, Lika; Merriam, Dena; De Ferrari, Gabriella

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810963205 ISBN 13: 9780810963207

Publisher: Harry N Abrams Inc, 1996

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This in-depth exploration focuses on the imposing stone sculptures of the major contemporary artist Lika Mutal. Bringing to her sculpture the sensibilities of three cultures - the spirituality of the Peruvian Andes' Inca civilization, the rich artistic tradition of her native Holland and the dynamic vitality of New York City - Mutal articulates a distinctive vision that draws the viewer into her work.
Lika Mutal was born in Holland. Her early childhood in war-torn Europe during the nineteen forties played a distinctive role in forming her outlook on life. "Through the maze of fear, I found a world of beauty", remembers the artist. As a young adult she moved to Latin America, first Colombia and then Peru. It was in Peru that she found her calling as a sculptor. Living in Lima, she achieved a means of sculptural expression that was a distillation of her European heritage and the creative energy of Peru. Her deep reverence for her material enabled her to develop a uniquely sensitive and skillful way of shaping the stone without invading its natural qualities.
Mutal's evolution as an artist led her increasingly toward an interiorization and a focus on penetrating the stone. Many years later Mutal took up part-time residence in New York City, supplementing the rounded interior quality of her work with a more pointed and towering dynamism stimulated by the quick-paced city.
During her early years as a sculptor, Mutal met the master carver Don Juan, under whom she learned some vital keys to establishing a relationship with stone. It is this relationship that Mutal has sought to perfect over the decades, carefully hand picking every stone she carves.

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From Publishers Weekly

Born in Holland in 1939, Mutal moved to South America in 1964, studied sculpture in Peru and began to carve powerful abstractions that seemed to release forces hidden in the stone and to bring inorganic matter to life. In this volume of dramatic photographs, Finn (How to Look at Photographs) observes Mutal's work from many angles, revealing the relationships between the various parts, capturing the contrasting textures and shapes, bringing the viewer into intimate contact with the fissures and contours. Short essays by De Ferrari, former director of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and Merriam (Bruno Lucchesi: The Sculptor of the Human Spirit) trace Mutal's life and explore the meaning of her monumental, individualistic formations, which are inspired by the landscape and people of Peru, her native Holland and the energy of New York City, where she lives for part of each year. Finn adds a "Photographer's Note," and there are brief statements, often as abstract as her sculpture, by Mutal herself, along with the 200 b&w and eight color illustrations.

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