About Minimalism
in Painting
Imagine standing in a museum, looking at a large canvas covered by a black square bordered by white. While gazing at the painting from different angles, you may be tempted to search for some deep, emotional meaning in the painting that the artist meant to convey. But that's exactly what a minimalist artist doesn't want you to do. "What you see is what you get," Frank Stella, one of the world's first and foremost minimalist artists, once said when he was asked to comment on the concept behind one of his paintings. Stella's statement reflects the very heart of minimalism.
Beginnings
The minimalist movement got its start in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States, but its influence in art quickly spread to the rest of the world. It is sometimes referred to as "ABC art" because of its sheer simplicity. The movement contrasted the flood of imagery in modern life and its biggest champion at the time, Pop Art.
Features
Minimalist painters strive to achieve a mathematical precision and impersonality in their art. Artists like Ellsworth Kelly used bold, clear colors and spare, simple shapes to create a painting that asked nothing more from the viewer than to appreciate it for what it was. Kelly often created "shaped canvases" that were irregular, non-rectangular-shaped canvases, covered in one, often bright, color.
Considerations
Minimalist painters worked to eliminate any reference to everyday objects. Often, shapes, lines or strokes were repeated, as if the painting had somehow mechanically created itself. In fact, sometimes the artist worked out his painting on a mathematical grid. Ellsworth Kelly's "Brushstrokes Cut into Forty-Nine Squares and Arranged by Chance" (see Resources) is an example of this mechanical form.
Famous Minimalists
Other minimalist artists include Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Robert Mangold, Eva Hesse and Robert Morris. Massachusetts-born Frank Stella, however, was the forefather of the minimalist movement in art.
Insight
Many people see minimalism in art as pointless, while others view it as a legitimate art form that paved the way for the postmodern art movement. Stella referred to a painting as a "flat surface with paint on it--nothing more." His statement should probably be the dictionary entry for minimalism.
