Minimalism Wall by Leah Steel

Minimalism

steeleahh — 2025-04-10 16:31:08 UTC

"What you see is what you see" is how Frank Stella described this movement. This quote became the mantra for minimalism. It explains that minimalism should not be viewed as having a deeper meaning, just for the object that it is.

This movement began in the late 1950s, and became big in the 1960s in New York City. American minimalism was influenced by European abstract movements. Americans wanted to make art that did not take interpretation from the viewer, just simply a visual piece.

These art pieces include sculpture, painting, and light installations.

The minimalist movement was established when the exhibit "Primary Structures" that was featured at the Jewish Museum in New York City became popular. This exhibit was critically acclaimed. It featured minimalist art from Donald Judd and many more artists.

Minimalist art challenged the idea of what art is and what it can be. It changed art from being something only for the rich, to something for everyone.

(Artland)

Influence: Jasper Johns

steeleahh — 2025-04-11 03:48:59 UTC

Jasper Johns greatly influenced Frank Stella during his search for a new way to express himself in his art. Johns went to a commercial art school in New York City in 1949. In the 1950s he became recognized as an influential artist. Johns stood out because he took everyday objects and turned them into the focal point of his art. His influence in minimalism came from his work of targets and American flags. He also made commercial stencils, maps, graphic art, lithographs, screen prints, and etchings.

Stella was specifically influenced by the flatness, repetition, and shift in focus that Johns was able to capture in his art. Before Johns, art was seen as a window into another world. Johns made it more simple than that. His flags and targets showed Stella that breaking the mold of what art is "supposed" to be is not the only way. Through this mindset shift that Jasper Johns started, minimalism was born.

(https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.2136.html#biography)

Example: Frank Stella

steeleahh — 2025-04-11 04:09:20 UTC

Frank Stella began his art career after he painted houses as a way to get by after graduating college and moving to New York. He took the same paint and brush from his job, and turned them into art. At this time, abstract art was what almost all artists were doing. Frank wanted to change that and do something unique. He drew inspiration from Jasper Johns. At the age of 23 Stella was the youngest artist to be featured in a Museum of Modern Art exhibit. This confirmed that his unique art was drawing the attention of many. He began with simple black paintings, but later expanded with his used of color. His later works featured a bright palate. He then moved on to art projected onto a wall. Later, he moved to full spatial constructions. His works got bigger and bolder over time, continually redefining minimalism as he did so. Stella was a key figure in the minimalist movement and he continued to change it throughout his career.

(https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1903.html)

Influence

steeleahh — 2025-04-11 04:28:35 UTC

Rejection of abstract expression was a large influence on minimalism. Many people decided that they wanted art to be different, break the norms. It went from being a snapshot of something to being a way for the artists to express themselves. This art went from abstract and up for interpretation to minimal and meant to be taken at face value. This was a drastic shift that made an impact on many. Minimalism also rejected the ideas of abstract expression in using unique materials to make art. These artists preferred fiberglass and house paint over valuable oil paints or clay. Everything was able to be art. There was no box the artists had to stay in, they could turn anything into a work of art. This change in materials led to a change in technique as well. Brushstrokes and color are not in minimalism for the artist to express themselves. Instead, they are used solely for the purpose of art.

(https://danslegris.com/blogs/journal/minimalism-the-minimalist-art-movement#:~:text=The%20Materials%20of%20Minimalism&text=Minimalism%20often%20avoided%20traditional%20art,simplicity%2C%20reduction%2C%20and%20physicality.)

Example: Donald Judd

steeleahh — 2025-04-11 04:42:20 UTC

Donald Judd began his career in art as he studied art history and philosophy in New York. He then went on to be recognized as an art critic while he was writing articles for Arts Magazine. During this time he transitioned from making abstract art to more minimal art. This is a transition that some were making at this time as minimalism was gaining popularity. His works were three dimensional and made of commercial materials. He used metal in his art in many ways. His pieces had iron, aluminum, stainless steel, brass, and copper. He also used plexiglass and plywood later in his career. His metal pieces were designed by him, but physically made by professional sheet metal fabricators. This was unheard of. Artists were the ones making their pieces before this, but Judd changed art as a whole in this way.

(https://www.moma.org/artists/2948-donald-judd)

Example: Steve Reich

steeleahh — 2025-04-11 05:04:20 UTC

Steve Reich was unique in that he was a minimalist composer. Minimalist music is "a style based on repetitions and combinations of simple motifs and harmonies". He made music minimal in a beautiful way. He studied music in college while also playing the keyboard and percussion. He later formed his own ensemble that performed minimalist pieces. Minimalism in music at this time "rejected the characteristic complexity of mid-20th-century classical harmony and tonality in order to make large-scale works from minimal materials". Instead of using more complex techniques and instruments, he kept it simple and used them in minimal but unique ways. He used instruments like organs, drums, marimbas, two voices, whistling, piccolo, and clapping. The variety of tools he utilized also made him stand out. He studied jazz as well as ethnic and ancient music. He used their techniques to turn something simple into something extraordinary. This made his work stand out. It was drastically different from the music that came before the minimalist movement.

(https://www.britannica.com/biography/Steve-Reich)

Example: Dan Flavin (light)

steeleahh — 2025-04-11 05:18:25 UTC

Dan Flavin was born in New York, where minimalism began and flourished. He studied art at university and began making drawings and paintings. He later began creating mixed media assemblages out of objects on the street of New York. He then began experimenting with lights in 1961. He used fluorescent and incandescent bulbs of a variety of shapes and sizes. In 1963 he decided he liked working with fluorescent tubes the best. "Flavin used the simple light tube in geometric formations, letting the light provide the colors of the walls; he wanted the walls to glow and form illusions." He typically had these tubes positioned horizontally or vertically, letting the lights speak for themselves. Although he did not view his work as a form of minimalism, it is described as such today.

(https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Art/A_World_Perspective_of_Art_History%3A_1400CE_to_the_21st_Century_(Gustlin_and_Gustlin)/06%3A_The_Art_of_Engagement_(1940-1970)/6.08%3A_Minimalism_(1960__early_1970))

Example: Minimalist Sculpture

steeleahh — 2025-04-11 05:35:29 UTC

Minimalist sculpture was a main emphasis of minimalist artists because it was so different from what was normal at that time. It was so different that it perfectly represented the movement at it was working to break the mold of what art can or cannot be. These were not traditional sculptures. These artists also did not include their names on these pieces, making them look more like an everyday object. They also were different from sculptures in that they were not placed on pedestals but instead simply placed on the gallery floor. Further representing their uniqueness.

(https://www.theartstory.org/movement/minimalism/)