Artist Talk with Richard Klein

Richard Klein Artist Talk for Walking Not Talking - Nature As Muse exhibition

Richard Klein has been copper plating organic objects for over three decades. The artist was drawn to the technique due to his interest in primarily utilizing found objects and how organic materials are intrinsically fragile and impermanent. The copper electroplating process, which was developed in the early decades of the nineteenth century, has been utilized for both decorative and industrial applications, including the making of art. The process has allowed Klein to encase objects from the natural world in a thin coating of metallic copper, permanently preserving them. The artist thinks of the transformation in alchemical terms, as both practical and poetic. Klein's encasement of these materials relates to the tradition of the reliquary, the often elaborate containers used to house and display sacred relics, usually associated with saints or other religious figures that were produced by artists in Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu faiths. In these works by Klein, the natural object is not just simply depicted, but is actually present, although covered by a layer of the red metal.

Recently, the artist has combined copper electroplated objects with images photo engraved on sheets of copper. The images, which depict urban landscapes, bridges, and electrical infrastructure are placed in juxtaposition with things from the natural world, speaking of the often fraught relationship we have with nature, while at the same time reminding us that we are nature and that our detachment from it is the source of so much of the destruction we inflict on the world. In particular, the artist’s interest in both fungi and copper hint at the convergence of natural and technological evolution: fungi, through their mycelium, connect virtually all terrestrial plant life, acting as natural communication networks; while copper is the material that the human-made electrical and digital networks depend on.

Surprisingly, through his research, Klein discovered a connection between the art world and copper. The Guggenheim Family, source of the funding of the art collector and patron Peggy Guggenheim, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Guggenheim Foundation, amassed their vast fortune primary through copper mining operations, specifically the development of the Bingham Canyon mine in in Utah, which is still in production and is currently the largest human-made excavation on Earth.