Minimal Art

Taschen Basic Genre

by Daniel Marzona, Uta Grosenick (Editor)

Founded as a backlash against abstract expressionism, minimalism was characterized by simplified, stripped-down forms and materials used to express ideas in a direct and impersonal manner. By presenting objects as simple objects, minimal artists sought to communicate without referring to expressive or historical themes. This critical movement, which began in the 1960s and branched out into land art, performance art, and conceptual art, is still a major influence today. Featured artists: Carl Andre, Stephen Antonakos, Jo Baer, Larry Bell, Ronald Bladen, Walter De Maria, Dan Flavin, Robert Grosvenor, Eva Hesse, Donald Judd, Gary Kuehn, Sol LeWitt, Robert Mangold, John McCracken, Robert Morris, Robert Ryman, Fred Sandback, Richard Serra, Tony Smith, Robert Smithson, Anne Truitt.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, History

96 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2004

Reviews

[eme]

muchísimo mejor que el de warhol, a pesar de que el arte minimal no me entusiasme

[CM · Rating 2 out of 5]

More a catalog of artworks than an introductory text. The first 30 pages are an essay piece giving an introduction of the movement and biographical details of a few artists. (the usual ones, Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd and Robert Morris). The rest are all double spreads for individual artwork ,curiously, ordered in alphabetical order by the artist's surname. Some contexts and interpretation are given for each piece but the tone is often promotional than critical and they soon become quite repetitive. (Well, the author is an art gallery owner.)

Describing the work of Carl Andre (a set of boilerplates on the ground in a chessboard arrangement), the author gave us this hyperbole : "The work appears to have clicked in with the molecular structure of the surrounding room so that none of its elements can evade being reevaluated". Oh, you don't say.

[Bruno Greggio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um livro introdutório interessante, útil por sua contextualização da Mininal Art em relação aos expressionismo abstrato e ao reunir várias experimentações individuais que iriam confluir em características mais ou menos coesas na década de 60. Além de uma ótima qualidade gráfica e no acabamento do livro, o que é sempre muito bom quando se fala de um livro de arte.

[Nwari]

"Eye + Mind ÷ Mind - Eye"

[Shane Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had recently watched a wonderful documentary about a NY couple who have spent their lives collecting art despite their small income (Dorothy and Herb Vogel). They collected "Minimal Art" and became friends with many well-known artists. I didn't know much about the minimal art movement so I bought this book. It has a short history of the genre and then shows examples of the artists and their works. I have seen many of their pieces in person in art museums. The book was very informative.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good Taschen book about minimal art that particularly focuses on the work of Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, and Donald Judd.

[Luciana Nery · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is excellent, like all those in Basic Genre collection of Taschen. The art is describes is not among my favorite, but that's my own taste, and not a comment on the quality of the book. As always, top-notch text (rigorous, objective, never boring) and images. I may even grow to appreciate Minimal Art more, as I now know about its origins, tenets and context.