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MinimalismObjects; and nothing more.
Beginnings• 1960s• Reaction to Abstract Expressionism• Reduction
Night Creatures—Lee Krasner
Untitled, 1969—Donald Judd
Philosophy• Eliminate emotions, allusions, and meanings• Create a single object• Move away from illusions and alternate
perceptions• Experience reality more directly
Artists• Frank Stella• Donald Judd
• Carl Andre• Sol LeWitt
• Robert Morris
• Dan Flavin
Frank Stella• Born 1936
• First minimalist
• Black paintings
• Portrait series
• Valparaiso series
• Ironic titles
“My painting is based on the fact that only what can be seen is
there. It really is an object […] you can see the whole without
confusion […] What you see is what you see.”
Frank StellaBlack Paintings
• Black Paint
• Internally defined
• Self-referential
• Objects
Tomlinson Court Park, 1967—Frank Stella
Marriage of Reason and Squalor, 1959—Frank Stella
Nunca Pasa Nada, 1964—Frank Stella
THE MAIN THING
WRONG
WITH PAINTING IS THAT IT IS A RECTANGULAR PLANE PLACED FLAT AGAINST ATHE
WALL. A RECTANGLE IS A SHAPE ITSELF; IT IS OBVIOUSLY THE WHOLE SHAPE; IT DETERMINES AND LIMITS THE ARRANGEMENT OF WHATEVER IS ON OR INSIDE OF IT.
—Donald Judd
Frank StellaPortrait Series, 1963
• Irregular shapes
• Internally defined
• Self-referential
• Objects
Carl Andre, Sidney Guberman, Leo Castelli
Frank StellaValparaiso Series
• Colorful
• Irregular shapes
• Internally defined
• Self-referential
• Objects
Empress of India, 1965—Frank Stella
Valparaiso Flesh and Green, 1963—Frank Stella
Donald Judd• 1928—1994
• Most Famous
• Simplicity
• Boxes
• Stacks
• Progressions
• Industrial
• Specific Objects
“It isn’t necessary for a work to have a lot of things to look at, to
compare, to analyze one by one, to contemplate. The thing as a
whole, its quality as a whole, is what is interesting. The main
things are alone and are more intense, clear and powerful.”
real materials existing in real space, 1968—Donald Judd
Large Stack, 1968—Donald Judd
Untitled, 1970—Donald Judd
Untitled (Progression), 1976—Donald Judd
Untitled (Progression), 1974—Donald Judd
Untitled (Progression), 1974G—Donald Judd
Carl Andre• Born 1935
• Close friend with Frank
Stella
• Influenced by
“constructivist”
technique and works by
Ezra Pound among other
pieces of literature
“Art excludes the
unnecessary. […] I’m not
interested in expression or
sensitivity.”
Essay on Sculpture, 1964—Carl Andre
Map of Poetry, 1966—Carl Andre
Poem, 1966—Carl Andre
•Before Carl Andre moved to sculpture, he was working with literature and philosophy
•Andre was influenced by the works of Ezra pound
•These poems came in the transition between literature and sculpture
•The “poems” are similar to minimalist sculpture in that the content is not important, while the physical structure is
Carl Andre
Andre worked with three types of minimalist sculpture in his career:
1. Sculpture as form2. Sculpture as structure3. Sculpture as place
Sculpture as Form
Timber Piece (Well), 1962—Carl Andre
•Pieces usually consisted of wooden blocks
•Always comprised of geometric shapes
•Stand vertical
•No complex shapes
The Way North, East, South, West, 1975—Carl Andre
Sculpture as Structure
Cedar Piece, 1959—Carl Andre
•Stacked units
•More complex shapes
•Usually stand vertical
Still Blue Range, 1989—Carl Andre
Sculpture as Place
Copper Ribbon, 1969—Carl Andre
•Less rigid characteristics than the other types of sculpture
•Pieces spread across the ground
•No definite size, shape, or material used
•The piece of art defines the space that it occupies
Untitled, 1972—Carl Andre
Sol LeWitt• 1928—2007
• Minimalist and
Conceptualist
• Repetitive forms
• Modular forms
• Seriality
“The use of serial ideas became my vocabulary, which by using
basic forms made a process of ideas.”
Floor Structure, Black, 1965—Sol LeWitt
K 1 2 3 4 5 6 #2, 1997—Sol LeWitt
Progressive Structure, 1997—Sol LeWitt
Modular Cube/Base, 1968—Sol LeWitt
Robert Morris• Born 1931
• Minimalist and
Conceptualist
• Outdoor art
• Viewer involvement
“Simplicity of shape does
not necessarily equate to
simplicity of experience.”
Wedges, 1970—Robert Morris
Bodyspacemotionthings, 1970—Robert Morris
Instillation, 1964—Robert Morris
Dan Flavin• 1933—1996
• Fluorescent lights
• Wanted viewers to
experience his art
• Influenced by lighting at
churches
• Started with abstract
expressionism
• First experimented with
found objects
“It is what it is, and it
ain't nothin' else...
Everything is clearly,
openly, plainly
delivered.”
Untitled (Corner Piece), 1969—Dan Flavin
Untitled, 1970—Dan Flavin
The diagonal of May 25, 1963, 1963—Dan Flavin
Untitled (site specific installation), 1969—Dan Flavin
http://flavin.pulitzerarts.org/#/installations/1/
Fluorescent light time lapse
Blue Intensity, 1968—Dan Flavin
Criticism• Not the work of the
artists• No skill• No meaning• Not beautiful• Not creative
Equivalent VIII, 1966—Carl Andre
Minimalism• Eliminate the unnecessary• Create a single object• Experience reality in the most direct way
“Everything is still. Everything is repeated. Everything is obvious. The accumulation of facts collapses perception. The indicated sum of these simple series is irreducible complexity. And impenetrable chaos. They astound.”
—Mel Bochner