1. Minimalism
By: Lauren Kahrs, Michelle
Flora, Whitney Templeton

2. “What you see is what you see”
– Frank Stella

3. Background
• Began in New York in the 1960’s
• Influenced by traditional Japanese design
• Reaction to abstract expressionism

4. Defining Minimalism
• Simplicity
• No meaning
• Unity
• Realistic
• Geometric

5. Minimalist art
• Focuses on shape, line, color, and value
• Repetitive patterns
• Industrial materials
• Texture and surface
• Basic objects

6. Frank Stella
• Born May 12, 1936
• Inspired from New York art galleries
• Studied art at Phillips Academy and
Princeton
• Learned to paint from an abstractionist
• Main figure of the art movement

7. Stella’s Style
• Flatness and quality of the objects
• Geometric shapes and use of color
• Three dimensional paintings
• Sculptures

8. “The Black Paintings”

9. “Geometric Variations”

10. Donald Judd
• Born June 3, 1928
• Studied philosophy at Columbia University
• Majored in art history
• Enrolled in Art Students League
• Art critic for American art magazines

11. Judd’s Style
• Used repetitive geometric shapes
• Colorful and shiny materials
• “Boxes”- unity, space and balance
• “Stacks”- color, light and materials
• “Progressions”- movement

12. “Stacks”

13. “Boxes”

14. “Progressions”

15. Sol Lewitt
• Born September 9, 1928
• Mother took him to art lessons
• Studied at The School of Visual Arts in
1953
• Working at The Museum of Modern Art
influenced his later work

16. Lewitt’s Style
• Used mostly squares and cubes
• Shifted from 3D to wall paintings
• Became interested in curvilinear shapes
• “To recreate art, to start from square one”
– Lewitt

17. “Painted wood”

18. Wall Drawing #122

19. Dan Flavin
• Born April 1, 1933
• Started drawing at a young age
• Observed lighting and structure of buildings
• Took art classes at University of Maryland
• Art history degree from Columbia

20. Flavin’s Style
• Light installations
• Interaction of light and color
• Detailed planning using math for accuracy

21. “A Retrospective”

22. Untitled

23. Other types of minimalism
• Lifestyle
• Music
• Architecture
• Design

24. Philip Glass
• Music with repetitive structure
• Slow sounds
• Continually added small changes
• Composed 80 symphonies
• Had a captivating effect
• http://library.thinkquest.org/27110/noframes/perio
ds/minimalism.html

25. Minimalist lifestyle
• Living a simplistic lifestyle
• Only owning things necessary for living
• Achieving happiness through life

26. Reactions
• “Art and Objecthood” –Michael Fried
▫ Confusing the categories of art and object
• Turning point in the history of modern art
• Controversy over definition of art
▫ No aesthetic qualities