1. Minimalism

2. What is Minimalism?
• Never clearly defined movement
• Artists within the movement opposed each
other
• “Much has been written about minimal art,
but I have not discovered anyone who
admits to doing this kind of thing” -LeWitt

3. How it began
• Against abstract expressionism
• Turn away from inner psychological
expression toward observation and
referencing everyday life
• Wanted a more American art form
• “Getting rid of the things that people used to
think were essential to art” - Judd

4. Abstract Expressionism
Number 28, 1950
Jackson Pollock (1950)
Minimalism
Tomlinson Court Park
(from Black Series I)
Frank Stella (1967)

5. Physical Characteristics
• Clean, bare, simple
• Monochromatic colors
• Geometric shapes, and clean lines
• Repitition
• Industrial materials (pre-made)
• Installations
• Gallery scale

6. Symbolic Characteristics
• Void of emotional meaning
• Void of political intent
• Void of associations and symbolism
• Some artists drew inspiration from
things, but it wasn‟t meant to be hidden.
• “What you see, is what you see”-Stella

7. Main Artists
• Frank Stella-1936 to Present
• Sol LeWitt-1928 to 2007
• Dan Flavin-1933 to1996
• Donald Judd-1928 to 1994
• Carl Andre-1935 to Present
• Robert Morris- 1931 to Present

8. Frank Stella
• Painter/printmaker/sculptor/architect
• Influenced by Abstract Expressionism
– Wanted to divert from it
• Emphasize flatness of canvas
• Worked with basic elements of art
• Black geometric Color Curve 3D
Painting Printing Sculpture
Architecture

9. Frank Stella
Zambezi
(1959)

10. Frank Stella
Flin Flon VIII
(1970)

11. Frank Stella
Jarama II
(1982)

12. Sol LeWitt
• Sculptor/painter/drawings
• Wall Drawings
• Both color and grayscale
• Require massive teams
• LeWitt was a director
• Months to make
• Interested in ideas not objects.

13. Sol LeWitt
Drawing 880
(1998)

14. Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing
Timelapse
• http://www.massmoca.org/lewitt/timelapse.
php?id=1 (Rainbow Swirl)

15. Sol LeWitt cont.
• Structures
– Modular Structures
• Skeletal Framework
• Focused on texture
• Later moved on to complex forms

16. Wall Structure (1963)

17. Wall Structure
(Side View)

18. Five Modular Structures (1972)

19. Complex Form
(1978-1980)

21. Dan Flavin
• Light Propositions
• Inhabits entire space with light
• Wash walls with color
• Makes the most with least material
• Mixes light together like paint
• Not meant to be permanent
• Corners, barriers, corridors

22. Dan Flavin
Untitled
(in honor
of Harold
Joachim) 3
(1977)

23. Monument 4 for those who have been
killed in ambush (to P.K. who reminded
me about death)
(1966)

24. Donald Judd
• Started off with paintings
• “Specific Objects”
• Forms included „stacks‟,
„boxes‟, and
„progressions‟
• Industrial materials
• Designed for specific
locations
• Critic of art

25. Untitled
(1962)

26. Untitled (1964)

27. Untitled
(1965)

28. Carl Andre
• Sculptor
• Raw materials
• Sculpture-as-place
• Designed for specific
locations
• Gallery scale

29. Pyramid
(1959)

30. Andre Stella

31. Spill
(1966)

32. Steel Square (1967)

33. Minimalist Music
• Repition
• Short phrases
• Long periods of time
• Stasis
• Steady, constant harmony and pulse
• Hypnotic Effect
• Composers
– Phillip Glass, La Monte Young, Terry Riley,
Steve Reich

34. Minimalist Music
• Phillip Glass – 600 Lines http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYnDg7W6GpE
– Repetitive
– Quick switches in rhythm
– Long period of time (player stamina)
• La Monte Young – The Well Tuned Piano
– Monotonous http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7tmxHhcH0w
– Deals with the physics of sound
– How it sounds
– Influenced by mathematical compositions

35. Robert Morris
• Not always a Minimalist
• Theatre -stage props
• “Blank Forms”
• Unstructured forms
• Gallery scale
• Mirrors

36. Untitled
(1964)

37. Mirrored Cubes
(1965)

38. Untitled (1965-67)

39. Criticisms
• Lack of complexity
• Incoherent movement
• Simple, no skill required
• Only difference between this art and
everyday life, is the setting of the gallery

40. Afterwards
• Lead to a contemporary form of
minimalism
• Headed toward land art
• Influenced Architecture and Interior Design