Donald Judd was an American artist central in the development of a movement beginning in 1963 labeled Minimalism, a term and concept, he profusely detested and rejected. His contribution to the progress of art as a whole through challenging European artistic conventions was immense, as a result he revolutionised practices and attitudes surrounding art making and the exhibition of art. After his abandonment of painting in the 1960’s, he progressed to working three-dimensionally producing simple, often repeated forms, with an intrinsic focus on the use of space. In his eyes, he was reducing painting and sculpture to its basic elements through the use of simple forms, industrial materials, solid colour on flat surfaces, and natural light. However he refused for his work to be classed as sculpture, insisting on the term ‘specific objects’, highlighting its distance from previous notions of art-making in sculpture. These were "specific" due to their carefully orchestrated shape, scale, proportions, and materiality. And they were "objects" because rather than being sculpted, they were fabricated by the artist.
Judd highly criticized painting, claiming that painting was not only dead, but also a lie, in the strictest sense, due to the fact it depicts the illusion of 3-dimensions on a 2-dimensional surface, (known as illusionism). After coming to this conclusion, he made the judgement that to paint any longer would be irrelevant, leading Judd to reluctantly give up painting to pursue 3-dimensional art-making, approaching actual space, real materials and importantly, colour. His rule against illusionism is then therefore satisfied in Judd’s 3-dimensional forms actual space by his use of repetition creating a continuation between the spa...
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...ce of the gallery, taking on a role of being an extension of the building structure, inhabiting the internal space also shared by the audience. Judd provided very specific in giving instructions on how to hang the work, with each form to be spaced 9 inches apart, and the amount of forms in the work is to be dictated by the height of the gallery ceiling, as the work must reach the ceiling.
It is the beauty in the presentation of Judd’s works, deriving from his meticulousness, which really distinguishes himself from other artists associated with minimalism.
What do you think about an artist employing someone else to construct or create his or her work? Also in Judd’s case, do you think it affects his credibility?
What is your opinion on Judd’s idea that art should be free of representation and metaphor, and exist purely on its own terms (aesthetically)?
During the 1960’s, a new branch emerged from this style to further challenge the boundaries that artists constantly fought to expand. Minimalism sought to emphasize attention to the physical properties of space and materials as being the artwork itself, without any connotative meaning attached to it. One of Tuttle’s earliest works, Light Pink Octagon, exhibits characteristics from this movement and encourages the viewer to value this piece for what it is by itself and nothing else. With this artwork, Tuttle forced critics and viewers to eradicate the presupposed boundaries and humbly demanded an open mind for the acceptance of art in its simplest and purest
The room was set up by having paintings on the walls with a sculpture directly in the center. This was the focal point of the room, Soundsuit, by Nick Cave. This piece was rich in color and character and I was immediately drawn to it. When I rounded the corner of the gallery there were many extravagant pieces such as Untitled #8 (2014) by Mickalene Thomas and Woman Under Willow (2014). Both pieces are inspired by Matisse, rich in color, and represent woman. The American gallery does a good job transitioning from one piece to another because each work is similar in some aspects. This gallery was less organized and different mediums were presented all throughout. There was a traditional quilt, Tar Beach 2 (1990) displayed in the same area as mediums such as wooden panels, oil pastel, and the metal hood of a car. This gallery and collection inspired by Matisse displayed many breathtaking works that I enjoyed seeing.
Evan Penny takes a completely different approach to hyperrealism. He manipulates the space where the object resides in. This technique shows the audience that a 3D space can change with the right type of effect on a sculpture. As he distorts his works of art in the space, it has an effect with the relationship between the viewer and
What does the work consist of? Who authored it, and how? What is it based on, and how does it relate? What is it, and what will become of it? The answers to these questions, collectively, form an important response to a bigger question: What is art? What does it mean to describe a piece as “a work of art”?
Artists are masters of manipulation. They create unimaginably realistic works of art by using tools, be it a paintbrush or a chisel as vehicles for their imagination to convey certain emotions or thoughts. Olympia, by Manet and Bierstadt’s Sierra Nevada Mountains both are mid nineteenth century paintings that provide the viewer with different levels of domain over the subject.
In order to understand the meaning of an artwork, besides the overall aesthetics of an artwork, it requires the viewer to have knowledge on the context in which a work of art is produced. With this knowledge, the viewer employs a holistic approach towards an artwork. For example, Pete Fecteau’s “Dream Big” is a mosaic is made of 4,242 officially licensed Rubik’s Cubes, as shown in the image below. When looked as the whole, the icon, Martin Luther King Jr. is seen. A historical icon that embodies freedom and hope, for people who are aware of his social and cultural influence, at that time. The simple components in this case would be the image of Martin Luther king Jr. and 4,242 well-arranged Rubik’s
Though most works of art have some underlying, deeper meaning attached to them, our first impression of their significance comes through our initial visual interpretation. When we first view a painting or a statue or other piece of art, we notice first the visual details – its size, its medium, its color, and its condition, for example – before we begin to ponder its greater significance. Indeed, these visual clues are just as important as any other interpretation or meaning of a work, for they allow us to understand just what that deeper meaning is. The expression on a statue’s face tells us the emotion and message that the artist is trying to convey. Its color, too, can provide clues: darker or lighter colors can play a role in how we judge a piece of art. The type of lines used in a piece can send different messages. A sculpture, for example, may have been carved with hard, rough lines or it may have been carved with smoother, more flowing lines that portray a kind of gentleness.
subject’s action. Many works of his time period were sculptures that were meant to be
For some it is a place that holds fourteen large paintings that represent darkness, mystery and contemplation and for others a place where one can go for self examination and to question one's own existence. Rothko achieved his goal and without any one of the three, the man, the dream, or work on canvas, the Rothko Chapel would never have been able to exist. The conceptualization of the artist, architectural dynamics and the creations on canvas are what have made the Rothko Chapel, after forty years of existence, a product of magnificence. Works Cited Chilvers, Ian. A. Dictionary of Art & Artists.
Cultural and political changes such as the spread of Marxism, the rise of psychoanalytical ideas, and the growth of media in the face of technological advancement prompted many artists to reassess notions of art (Farthing). Rejecting the idea that art must realistically depict the word, many artists started to explore abstract ideas such as symbolism and focused more on the representation of emotions or personal subjects they had direct experience or interest in (MoMA). Modernist sculpture cannot be identified by one defining characteristic, rather it encompasses different art movements and represents a pivotal moment for sculptors to investigate different materials, methods of construction and formal elements of sculpture such as form, space and mass. Constantin Brancusi played a major role in developing modernist sculpture, after rejecting Rodin’s naturalism. Brancusi tried to capture the essence of the subject by distilling them down to their most refined and simplified forms. For example, he used a section of the body to represent its entirety, often focusing on the head as he felt that was the most expressive component of a human being. He also emphasized a commitment to the material’s natural properties, using a direct carving
The first theory argues that art is an imitation of reality. The inability to represent reality flawlessly results in a piece of...
In the beginning, Surrealism was primarily a literary movement, but it gave artists an access to new subject matter and a process for conjuring it. As Surrealist paintings began to emerge, it divi...
Starting with visual elements I saw lines, implied depth, and texture. I see lines by him using lines created by an edge. Each line is curved not straight but it works with the piece. By using this he creates the piece to make it whole. He uses many curved lines within the painting I don’t know if there is a straight line in the whole thing. The next element I saw was implied depth. Using linear perspective you can see the mountains but they look smaller than the rest of the piece. They are the vanishing point in the back making it look as if you can walk down and they will get closer and closer to you. The last element that I saw was texture. They talk about Van Gogh’s painting, The Starry Night having texture through a two- dimensional surface, in which this painting has that similar feel. Van Gogh uses thick brush stokes on his paintings to show his feelings. There is actually a name for this called, Impasto,
Stone, W. F. (1897). Questions on the philosophy of art;. London: Printed by William Clowes and Sons.
artist: “The object of the artist is the creation of the beautiful. What the beautiful is is another question” (Joyce 185). ‘What the beautiful is’ does not refer to what objects are considered be beautiful, but to the elements that are involved in calling s...