Fred Sandback (born 1943, Bronxville, New York; died New York, 2003) was an iconic figure in the art of the twentieth century. Sandback’s sculptures, drawn in space with acrylic yarn, create “habitable drawings” enabled by three conditions: the physical material, the surrounding architecture, and the viewer—a “strong, immediate, and beautiful situation,” as Sandback put it, which, though perhaps related to Minimal and Conceptual art practices, ultimately leaves both behind.

On view at BU in the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering between March 24 and April 30, 2026, is Untitled (Sculptural Study, Six-part Vertical Construction), c. 1983/2022. A striking work made from six vertical strands of red yarn, the work propels the viewer toward new relationships between body, sculpture, and space. Or as Sandback said, with his characteristic simplicity, “Isn't it quite natural to create vertical things, since this corresponds to the human body carriage?