World War 2 Art
World War 2 Art
World War 2 Art
Postminimalism – The Concept
Minimalism was a movement in art that emerged in America, post World War II. It involved the use of ‘only’ fundamental features in the artworks. In Visual Art, this translated into designs showing just the object in question, excluding anything that can take the viewer away from the pure experience of a subject. Like Minimalism, Postminimalism was also a term art-historians and critics coined to refer to the artworks employing Minimalism as an aesthetic or conceptual reference point.
The Correlations
Minimalism is often considered an artistic reaction to the post World War-II movement of Abstract Expressionism in America. While Minimalism highlighted an artist’s focused observation to capture the subject without any metaphor, Abstract Expressionism has been all about the spontaneous creativity of an artist from the sub-conscience. This contrast supported the Minimalist ideology of art form not being for self-expression. It later evolved into Postminimalism, which was a step closer to Modernism. Historian and critic, Robert Pincus-Witten, who coined the term ‘Postminimalism,’ has described its progress in his book ‘Post Minimalism to Maximalism: American Art, 1966 to 1986.’ According to him, this art form had three distinct phases, pictorial/sculptural, epistemological, and ontological.
World War 2 Art
World War 2 Art
The Details
Postminimalism was not an art form, but the tendency of artists to confine their paintings to minimal possible in expanse, to express their creativity. Only specific art works by artists from varied genres are grouped as Minimalistic. It is impossible to segregate the very similar art-works of such a diverse set of artists. Therefore, there is no art style specific to Postminimalism. However, broadly, closed geometric forms, symmetrical repetition of a block of design, monochromatic colors, natural surfaces, and stand-alone object with minimal surroundings, are the key features. The subjects often are the objects or scenes from day-to-day life.
The Artists
Rachael Whiteread, Eva Hesse, Barry Le Va, Anish Kapoor, Sol LeWitt, Vito Acconci, Tom Friedman, and Bruce Neuman.
World War 2 Art
World War 2 Art
The Artworks
‘Water-Tower’ in New York, by Rachel Whiteread, and ‘Cloud Gate’ (2004) in Chicago, by Anish Kapoor, are a couple of Postminimalist stunners.
Conclusion
The purpose of Minimalism was to create the subject, and not to use it to represent something it is not. Its aim was to bring the viewer closer to the subject’s reality. This non-representational tendency did not go down well with historians, who ironically try to read the artists’ mind through their artworks. Postminimalism helped better understand the objective of minimalistic artworks. The critics appreciated the brilliant observation portrayed in Minimalistic works. Postminimalism may still be an enigma for some, but for other articulate observers, this surely stands as a form of technical perfection in art history.
By Annette Labedzki
Article Source: ezinearticles.com