He works as a freight brakeman and train conductor in New Jersey for the Pennsylvania Railroad. The experience of blue-collar labour and the ordered nature of freight trains will shape his sculpture and persona: he often turns up in overalls and a blue work shirt, even at the most formal occasions.
1960–1964
Years of writing and concrete poetry
In these years he writes above all, and there is little notable sculpture by him between 1960 and 1965. His concrete poetry is later exhibited in the United States and Europe, and a comprehensive collection of it is held by the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
1965
First public exhibition: “Shape and Structure”
He shows his work in public for the first time in the exhibition “Shape and Structure” at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery, curated by Henry Geldzahler.
1966
“Lever” at “Primary Structures”
“Lever” — a single line of 137 firebricks hugging the floor and concisely dividing a space — is included in the exhibition “Primary Structures” at the Jewish Museum in New York; the controversial work brings Andre considerable recognition.
1966
Sculpture to walk on
His innovative works lie flat on the ground instead of rising up; viewers are invited to walk over the sculpture to sense the difference between materials — steel, aluminium — and between standing at the centre of a work and outside its edge.
