Inside the Spiral: The Passions of Robert Smithson

A comprehensive biography of Robert Smithson explores his life, influences, and artistic production, revealing his suppressed early history as a painter, his affiliation with Christianity, astrology, and alchemy, and his sexual fluidity. It sheds light on the symbolic meanings in his images, sculptures, essays, and earthworks, including his final work, Amarillo Ramp. The book explores his response to his family's history of loss and how it shaped his artistic language, featuring previously unpublished illustrations and photographs.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 440 pages
Publication date: 11 April 2023
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

Robert Smithson, a prominent American artist renowned for creating the iconic Spiral Jetty, has been the subject of an expansive and revealing biography. This first-ever account delves deeper into the life of Smithson, shedding light on the powerful forces that shaped his artistic creations, often obscured by his immense success.

Suzaan Boettger, the author of this biography, conducts extensive research to uncover the hidden aspects of Smithson's life. The book explores his suppressed early history as a painter, his affiliation with Christianity, astrology, and alchemy, as well as his sexual fluidity. Through meticulous analysis, Boettger unravels Smithson's story, revealing symbolic meanings embedded in his vast body of work, encompassing paintings, drawings, sculptures, essays, and earthworks.

While Smithson is best known for his monumental earthwork, Inside the Spiral, the book delves into the full arc of his artistic production. Recognizing it as a response to his family's history of loss, which prompted his birth and shaped his unique intelligence, Boettger explores how Smithson configured his personal conflicts within painterly depictions of Christ's passion, the rhetoric of science fiction, imagery from occult systems, and the impersonal posture of conceptual sculpture.

Smithson's ambition was to achieve renown, and he employed various strategies to conceal his personal passions and transform his professional persona. He veiled his personal desires behind his artistic endeavors, becoming an acclaimed innovator and a fierce voice in the New York art scene.

The book features copious illustrations of early work that eluded Smithson's destruction, providing a rare glimpse into his artistic development. Additionally, photographs of Smithson and his wife, the noted sculptor Nancy Holt, and recollections from nearly all those who knew him throughout his life, add depth and insight to the narrative.

Inside the Spiral offers unprecedented insight into the hidden impulses of one of modern art's most enigmatic figures. It sheds light on the forces that drove Smithson's creativity, illuminating the profound impact of his life experiences on his iconic creations. This biography is a valuable contribution to the understanding and appreciation of Robert Smithson's remarkable artistic legacy.

Weight: 958g
Dimension: 178 x 255 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781517913540