© the artist

Richard Long, "A Line in Scotland" (1981). C-Print, 35 x 40 in.

June 2009 Field Guide

Yinka Shonibare, MBE

Edward Tufte

Patricia Esquivias

No Sound

Irwin

“JOL”

Fleur Elise Noble

Julieta Aranda

Richard Long Richard Long Japan Art Association Honors Zaha Hadid London Gallery Stroll Many Splendid Things One-Bed Uffizi Gemma Holt A Different Kind of Art Fair

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In 1967, on his way to art school from his home in Bristol, British artist Richard Long paused at a field in Wiltshire and walked a straight line across the grass. He kept treading up and down the same way until the blades bent and formed a narrow path. Long’s photograph A Line Made by Walking captured this ephemeral imprint in nature. Since then, Long has devoted his practice to extending notions of sculpture by altering nature. He repeatedly embeds and forms simple lines and shapes on a variety of landscapes — from a snowy mountain in Japan to the dry plains of South Africa. He has also varied his materials — using ash, water, stones, and smoke to create his markings. The photo-documents of these walks are included in Long’s first major survey in nearly two decades, alongside his text work, artists’ books, postcards, and stone sculptures. A highlight will be four of Long’s mud works, for which he smears wet mud onto the gallery walls with his hands, creating a mesh of striking textures and patterns. 

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"Richard Long" originally appeared in the Summer 2009 issue of Modern Painters. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Modern Painters' Summer 2009 Table of Contents.