Postmodern definition:
“Postmodernism is a late-20th-century intellectual, cultural, and artistic movement that emerged as a sceptical reaction against the certainty, universal truths, and “grand narratives” of Modernism. It emphasizes irony, relativism, the instability of meaning, and the idea that knowledge is socially constructed rather than objective.”
Sublime definition:
“Something of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty that it inspires awe, wonder, and elevation, going beyond ordinary comprehension or measurement, often associated with nature, art, or spiritual experiences that feel transcendent and immense, capable of being both terrifying and uplifting.”
“The minimalist art movement began after World War II and rose to prominence in the American art scene in the 1960s and 1970s. It is thought to be a reaction to movements like abstract expressionism, another post-war movement that was centred around spontaneous creation that highlighted an idea of the subconscious. Minimalism challenges conventional art standards and favours stark and cool imagery over traditional aesthetics. Throughout the movement’s evolution, many women rose to prominence as significant contributors. In an art world typically dominated by men, minimalism offered women a chance to express their artistic vision in a way that subverted the norm. “
Elizabeth Berry
An example of modernism was Jackson Pollocks drip paintings the most famous abstract expressionist painter.
“I’m not an abstractionist. I’m not interested in the relationship of colour, or form or anything else. I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions: tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on.”
Mark Rothko
Rothko’s work speaks to me and it’s sublime in my opinion and it’s the rough simple rectangles of different colours that articulate lucid and awake meditative states.
Rothko is famous for painting a series for a chapel:
“The Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational chapel in Houston, Texas, founded by John and Dominique de Menil. The interior serves not only as a chapel, but also serves as the display framework for a major work of modern art: on its walls are fourteen paintings by Mark Rothko in varying hues of black.”
Wiki
“James Turrell (born May 6, 1943) is an American artist known for his work within the Light and Space movement. He is considered the “master of light” often creating art installations that mix natural light with artificial colour, through openings in ceilings thereby transforming internal spaces by ever shifting and changing colour.”
Wiki
I would describe Turrell’s light minimalist artworks as the postmodern sublime reinventing minimalism where light and space become the materials that the artwork is made of.
“Spirituality in minimal art is expressed through reduced forms, simple geometric shapes, and industrial materials, aiming to create an immersive, contemplative, and sometimes sublime experience for the viewer. Rather than representing literal subjects, it focuses on the essential, evoking feelings of calm, space, and awe.”
Key Aspects of Spirituality in Minimal Art:
“Contemplative Space: Minimalist art often acts as a bridge between mind and spirit by stripping away the unnecessary, creating a quiet space for reflection, meditation, and inner experience.”
This idea of contemplative space is epitomised with Rothko’s Chapel and later artists such as Anish Kapoor’s void sculptures who has been commissioned to make sculptures for churches and synagogues.
“The Sublime” Experience: Artists like Mark Rothko (through Abstract Expressionism, often considered a precursor or parallel to minimalism) and Donald Judd used scale, colour, and structure to create, rather than represent, a profound sense of the sublime or spiritual.”
“Interaction and Presence: The focus is on the viewer’s direct, physical, and sensory experience with the artwork’s materiality in a specific space.”
This is how Richard Serra’s work operates as his enormous steel structures redefine the space they are in such as his huge sculptures at the Bilbao Guggenheim in Spain.
“Richard Serra (November 2, 1938 – March 26, 2024) was an American artist known for his large-scale abstract sculptures made for site-specific landscape, urban, and architectural settings, and whose work has been primarily associated with postminimalism. Described as “one of his era’s greatest sculptors”, Serra became notable for emphasizing the material qualities of his works and exploration of the relationship between the viewer, the work, and the site.”
Wiki
“To see is to think, and to think is to see”.
Richard Serra
I love this Serra quote about perception and creative thinking.
“I consider space to be a material. The articulation of space has come to take precedence over other concerns”.
Richard Serra
I love Serra’s quote about space being material and learnt about that making installation art at art school. It is a difficult idea and took a while to comprehend. It’s the negative spaces in Serra’s work that make them so beautiful and they are so huge that it dominates the space for the viewer.
“Process as Practice: The creation of simple, intentional, and repetitive forms can serve as a meditative, almost ritualistic practice for the artist.”
This idea of repetition of forms as a meditative practise is epitomised in Eva Hesse’s sculptural installations and also crosses over into Andy Warhols pop art early works such as the soup cans and Marilyn’s.
“Minimalism encourages a shift from material consumption to an appreciation of the present, fostering inner contentment, which aligns with many spiritual, and philosophical traditions.”
My favourite Gladwell work is: Skateboarders Vs Minimalism / Shaun Gladwell a show at a gallery in New York.
“This video by Australian artist Shaun Gladwell is a conceptual group-self-portrait of skateboarders and sculptors in which a museum setting transforms into a skate park and the body into a tool to be used. The project is a conceptual group-self-portrait of skateboarders and sculptors, two radical “species” to which Shaun Gladwell not only feels to belong—but who he actually is: both a skateboarder and a sculptor.
Skateboarders vs. Minimalism features the world’s best freestyle skater Rodney Mullen, together with North Carolina-based Hillary Thompson (the first openly transgender professional skateboarder) and colleague Jesus Esteban, with sound composed by American composer Philip Glass. The video takes place within a museum environment, as the artist states that “the streets are our museums.”
For Gladwell, “minimalism offers such great forms for skateboarders to ride on. It is a formal issue. The forms are simple and clean—perfect for skateboarding.”
shaun gladwell minimal art and skateboarding exhibit – Google Search
Minimalist Works by Women Artists:
Discover the amazing strides made by women in the minimalist art movement through these four important artworks.
Published:
Dec 20, 2023 written by Elizabeth Berry, BA English, Italian, & Writing Seminars
- Blanco y Verde by Minimalism’s Carmen Herrera (1959)
“Carmen Herrera (1915-2022) was a Cuban-American painter and minimalist artist who rose to prominence late in her life. She became famous for her minimal geometric works. Herrera principally studied architecture, and later took lessons at the Arts Students League when she moved to New York. Though Herrera never sold a painting until she was 89 years old, in 2004, she is now recognized as a major contributor to the minimalist movement, and multiple retrospectives of her art from the late 1950s onward have taken place over the years.”
“Blanco y Verde (1959) is a stunning example of Herrera’s geometric minimalist art. This painting consists of acrylic on canvas and it comes from a series of the same name. From the sharp, green triangle extending to either edge of the canvas, Herrera’s architectural training and modern, abstract perspective are highlighted.”
This simple geometric painting reminds me of the birth of abstract art and paintings by Kazimir Malevich:
2. Sunset Squares by Judy Chicago (1965)
Sunset Squares by Judy Chicago, 1965 (recreated 2018). Source: Judy Chicago’s website
“Judy Chicago’s Sunset Squares (1965) is another example of classic minimalist artwork that was relatively unknown until later in the artist’s life. Judy Chicago (b. 1939) is an American feminist artist who created a large body of minimalist art early in her career, between 1965 and 1973. Chicago’s minimal drawings, paintings, and sculptures have since been celebrated widely as hallmark pieces of the minimalist period. Sunset Squares (1965) was recreated in 2018 for a retrospective of the artist’s early work. It stands out in her catalogue. The cubes present in these sculptures are trademarks of the minimalist style, and the soft colour palette provides a personal touch to an otherwise stark piece.”
These sculptures by Judy are incredibly simple and I really got into simple minimalist sculptures at art school such as the untitled following sculpture that I showed at Particle gallery in Clovelly in the late nineties with Fernando Pino a Australian, Chilean artist titled Seismograph.
3. With My Back to the World by Agnes Martin (1997)
“Agnes Martin (1912-2004) was perhaps one of the most significant women in the minimalist art movement. What’s interesting about Martin is that although the minimalist movement is often thought to be in opposition to the abstract expressionist movement, she personally identified her artworks as abstract expressionist rather than minimalist. Agnes Martin’s art heavily featured grids and abstract patterns, and often employed slight or muted colour.
With My Back to the World (1997) is a work from Martin’s later career. The work features a series of wide, pale stripes on a large 5 ft x 5 ft canvas. It was part of a series of six paintings with the same name and it reflects the artist’s sharp mind and unique philosophy.”
Agnes minimal paintings are very sublime and remind me of much later Irish American abstract artist Sean Scully and early Russian abstract art such as Vasily Kadinsky that I saw in a retrospective at the Guggenheim in New York several years ago.
4.Repetition Nineteen III by Eva Hesse (1968)
Repetition Nineteen III by Eva Hesse, 1968. Source: MoMA, New York
“Repetition Nineteen III (1968) by Eva Hesse (1936-1970) is a sculpture composed of fiberglass and polyester resin. It features nineteen translucent pieces, each slightly different from the other, that resemble buckets. Minimalist art typically featured identical repetitions and patterns, but Hesse was less rigid in her approach. The handmade, individual quality gave these forms a unique edge, as they were created from materials one would typically expect to be perfect and industrially made. This is one of several works that defined Eva Hess as a pioneering sculptor in the minimalist art.”
When I was in art school as a sculpture major, I was deeply influenced by Eva Hesse’s sculptures and I found them self -reflexive and meditative.
In conclusion minimal art still speaks to a younger generation of artists and audience such as the installation come play-ground Skateboarders Vs Minimalism/ Shaun Gladwell mixing famous minimal artists sculptures and famous skateboarders such as Rodney Mullen also known by his nickname the Mutt. Mullen has skateboarded since the eighties and I remember many years ago that he had to change his stance for skateboarding as his legs had such great wear and tear from street skating every day. Also, in this essay I tried to include an equal number of female artists but didn’t double up with Japanese artist Yoko Ono because I had discussed her work in other essays not just as a minimal artist but Fluxus artist as well and musician and contemporary postmodern artist.
Gladwell is from Sydney and we mixed in the same social circles at Imperial Slacks Gallery in Surry Hills and Gladwell in 1999 was at a huge warehouse party there and another artist: Michael Schiavello said to me ask Shaun to do a casper shovet, as Shaun was skateboarding inside while everyone was dancing and I can’t remember if I asked him but I did marvel at his freestyle skateboarding tricks.
“175, 218 VHS video cassettes are arranged to form a solid block in the deconsecrated chapel of a former nunnery. The combined running time of these cassettes, if played consecutively, would be 60.1 years, the average human life span in 1976 – the year that the VHS was released.”
Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy Website
