Black Newborn

Sherrie Levine explores the notion of originality and creativity. In Black Newborn, she presents her interpretation of a sculpture by Constantin Brancusi that a collector had placed on a black grand piano. Brancusi’s Newborn signifies the gestation of a life as sculpted by men. 
By appropriating these creations, Levine is questioning the concept of art arising out of absolutely nothing, without any sense of ascendancy or references. It considers the discrepancy between original and copy in terms of a cyclical movement of forms, all the more so in forms such as these, which call for a universal interpretation of the birth of life.