Carmen Herrera’s Estructura Verde is based on a simple geometric conceit: a rectangular form is cleaved into two L-shaped components (one a perfect right angle, the other irregular) through the simple excision of three narrow, triangular cuts. Initially rendered as an isometric drawing in 1966, and appearing later as the basis for one of Herrera’s iconic Blanco y Verde paintings in 1966–67, the design was eventually realized in three dimensions in 1971 as a wall-mounted sculpture in wood. Estructura Verde, one of several Herrera sculptures fabricated in aluminum in 2018, represents the culmination of the artist’s translation of her 1966 drawing into three dimensions. 

Born in Cuba in 1915, Carmen Herrera lives in New York City. LACMA’s installation of Estructura Verde on the Smidt Welcome Plaza is the first presentation of her sculpture on the West Coast.