Minimalism

Many people have difficulty appreciating Carl Andre's 'Equivalent VIII,' consisting of 120 bricks, as a work of art. This publication shows not only how the bricks are indeed sculpture, but that Minimalist works such as this present some of the most intersting and imaginative work of the 1960s. Minimalism emerged and developed as a reaction against the emotiveness of Abstract Expressionism. Although most of the artists involved did not regard themselves as part of a group, there are certain key factors that define Minimalist work: it is abstract, three-dimensional, modular, serial, geometric, preconceived in design and industrial in execution. This introduction examines the implications of these characteristics, looking in particular at the work of five key artists: Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, and Robert Morris.