Love is in the Air: Robert Indiana’s Art in Nature
Robert Indiana (1928-2018) was an American sculptor and painter and, perhaps more so, a wordsmith. At the age of 13, he won his first prize in an essay competition for A Covered Bridge – a poetic description of a local bridge in his neighbourhood in the state of Indiana. He continued working with words associated with his surroundings; in high school as a telegram delivery boy and in advertising for The Indianapolis Star to help support his family, and later when he enlisted in the US Air Force as the base’s newspaper’s editor. After studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, winning a travelling fellowship, and settling in New York, his words took on new meaning.
Beneath the textual configurations, his art conveys intimate yet daring messages for social justice issues–such as LGBTQ rights, racial discrimination, and world peace. His sculptural creations go beyond the notion of Pop art and when placed in the open, serve as messengers between nature and human beings to inform us of the universality and immortality of the central themes embedded in his figures of speech.
Robert Indiana, LOVE (Red Blue Green), 1966-98, installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022.
Great philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle understood art as only “mimetic,” unable to replicate the wonders of nature. [1] Thinkers and artists of the following generations, including Indiana, however, proved that art could play a more prominent role in reconceiving the relationship between human beings, nature, and their creations.
Robert Indiana in his studio at 25 Coenties Slip, 1959. Photo by John Ardoin. Courtesy of the artist.
Growing up between divorced parents and in a world order swamped with wars, Indiana’s upbringing inspires many of his artistic ideas. LOVE, one of his best-known sculptures usually situated in an urban landscape, crystalises and proliferates a basic but abstract human emotion. Originally a design for a greeting card, LOVE has evolved into its various sculptural forms in different colours since the 1960s, receiving critical attention from both the art world and members of the public. In the 21st century when warfare was still looming in different corners of the world, “make love, not war” remains a pearl of wisdom still to be realised. In the open air, we see the slanted O sway along with the natural force but held back tightly by the artist’s craftsmanship. The vulnerability and vitality of the O reflect on the cycle of nature and human history and how it seems we have to go through a never-ending loop to attain the ultimate spirit of love.
Robert Indiana, ART (Red Blue), 1972-2001 and Imperial LOVE, 1966-2006. Installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022.
In 1972, Indiana conceived ART as an interpretation of art in contemporary society. He was commissioned for an art show poster to unveil the next single word to occupy the art world in the 1970s; choosing ART. The poster proliferated into other modes of presentation, including sculpture, just as LOVE had. The three-letter word projects a sense of abstraction and challenges the legibility of naked eyes, returning to Indiana’s formative interest in short, punchy words such as ‘eat,’ ‘die,’ ‘hug,’ and ‘err’ that appeared in his 60s sculptures and paintings. In ART, the R and T lean on A. This amicable reliance and trust resonate with the interconnectedness between culture and nature, like the placement of the very artwork on the organic soil against the trees and bushes in the background.
Robert Indiana, ONE Through ZERO (The Ten Numbers), 1980-2001, installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022.
Indiana was born into a family of wanderlust, having lived in 21 different houses by the age of 17. In pursuit of his study and career, he has also travelled extensively within the United States and overseas. In 1958, he changed his last name by birth–Clark–to Indiana to pay homage to his home state. The constant fluidity in his life sowed a seed for his obsession with numbers, and ONE Through ZERO (The Ten Numbers) realised it with a set of iconographic sculptures that captures the stages of life. To Indiana, the number one stands for birth in its flamboyant colours and zero stands for death in fading grey. With the collection taking root in ascending order in the open air, the mortal life cycle of humanity is juxtaposed against the eternity of nature. However, isn’t the legacy of Indiana’s art a survivor beyond the lifetime of the artist and every one of us? Standing in front of the numeric assemblage, I can faintly hear nature and art counting in harmony, “One, two, three.”
Robert Indiana, AMOR (Red Yellow), 1998-2006. Installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022.
Many of Indiana’s motifs are presented in both paintings and sculptures, breaking the boundary between the mediums. Along the same vein, his 3D creations stretch beyond the canvas and remodel art above the spatial constraint. The substantial depth in his sculpture represents the condensation of the meaning of words and art. As Indiana spoke of his LOVE:
Here the quartered field is filled with the four letters of love, as compactly and economically as possible, but with my interest in the circle still called to mind by the tilted O… For me it was the drawing of a circle back to the beginnings of my known work…
The motif of O as a cycle adds certain poetics to his pictograms, reinventing a new dimension. The placement of the sculptures outdoors does not only resonate with nature but also represents a state of mind that is free from boundaries–back to human nature.
Robert Indiana, LOVE WALL, 1966-2006. Installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park showcases a retrospective of Indiana’s works from 12 March 2022 to 8 January 2023, the artist’s first major UK sculptural exhibition, with a special emphasis on their connection with the natural landscape. The founding director of the institution, Peter Murray [2], has been mindful of how objects engage with the natural environment–lighting, weather, landscape–in their curating. Echoing the institution’s aspiration to cultivate a balance between art, architecture, and nature, Indiana’s sculptures present an experience of art that awakens multiple senses beyond just sight. Outside of this temporary exhibition, Yorkshire Sculpture Park has a permanent collection of some 100 open-air sculptures from gifting, commissions, and loans, including works by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore.
Except for the portrait of Robert Indiana, all photo credits to © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London.
References
[1] Jeffrey Kastner, “Introduction: Art in the Age of Anthropocene,” Nature, London: Whitechapel Gallery/Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2012. 14.
[2] Murray has recently retired after 45 years in the role and the directorship of Yorkshire Sculpture Park is succeeded by Clare Lilley, former Director of Programme in the institution.
Alison Lo
En Plein Air Editor, MADE IN BED