This piece was made in 1969 and bought by the Trusts founder, donated to the collection in 1995 from the Nigel Greenwood Gallery. Joel Perlman has continued to make works returning to the United States.
Perlman has been creating complex sculptures out of steel, bronze, and aluminium since the early 1970's. While minimalism was the predominant style of his generation, Perlman chose to push his forms into ever-more complicated, gravity defying, configurations. Though he shares certain qualities with his peers - the thrill of danger in a Richard Serra, the blue-collar heroism of Mark diSuervo - Perlman always investigates with originality. He expands, rather than appropriates, enriching our experience with industrial materials
Up close, we can see Perlman's craftmanship; his oversize connection welds are left exposed. Yet, the source of propulsion remains a mystery. How can such inflexible weight appear to fling itself through the air?
Perlman exhibited at the Andre Emmerich Gallery for twenty-five years and is now represented by the Kouros Gallery, New York. He is represented in museums throughout the world including, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C., The Storm King Art Center, and The Utsukushi-Ga-Hara Open Air Museum , Japan.
