Richard Serra's 'Clara-Clara' sculpture abandoned in Paris suburb

Richard Serra's monumental sculpture 'Clara-Clara' (1983) has been abandoned in a courtyard of a former water treatment plant in Ivry-sur-Seine, a southeastern suburb of Paris, for over a decade. The 210-ton steel work was originally commissioned for a retrospective at the Centre Pompidou but deemed too heavy for the museum and placed in the Tuileries Gardens between the Jeu de Paume and the Orangerie. It sparked public controversy and was moved multiple times: to Parc de Choisy in 1985 (where it was covered in graffiti and used as shelter), then into storage in 1990. After artist complaints and pressure from Louvre president Henri Loyrette, it was reinstalled in its original Tuileries location in 2008 for Monumenta. Public backlash resumed, and in 2009 it was dismantled again, ending up in 2010 at the Ivry-sur-Seine facility managed by the Fonds Municipaux d'Art Contemporain, which oversees Paris's collection of over 23,000 works. Satellite images from 2023 show the sculpture still disassembled, exposed to the elements, and placed next to a dumpster. The article questions whether Serra's recent death and the upcoming Paris Olympics might prompt a dignified final destination.