Description

Between 1989 and 1990, Serra created Afangar, a sculpture on Videy Island, a barren mass off the coast of Reykjavik, Iceland. Afangar, which consists of eighteen thin slabs of indigenous basalt installed in pairs, acted as a catalyst for Serra's production of a group of prints that he considers among his most significant work on paper. Although these were Serra's first etchings, he worked
unconventionally, biting thick plates to a depth of 1/16 of an inch. The plates were heavily inked so that the resulting
prints have a rich, black, dense, rough surface that evokes
Iceland's unique landscape. "Piles of lava strata extend to the horizon," describes the artist. "There are no trees. Continuous glacial erosion and volcanic eruptions make for a diversity of geological formations: craters, fissures, fjords.... I was completely taken by the strangeness of the land."