Art: A Red-Hot Momma Returns

Art orthodoxies fade and die. When they do, it becomes apparent how much space was left between their lines—and, occasionally, what interesting talents were excluded from the canon. At that point, artists who had been around all the time are greeted as if they were new arrivals. One of these, at present, is Beverly Pepper, 51, a sculptor who has lived in Italy for the past 24 years and has two shows of her work running in New York: indoor pieces and projects at the downtown André Emmerich Gallery, and "monumental" steel sculpture on...