"Art in Review," by Roberta Smith, is a critique of Agnes Martin's, a great minimal artist's, work. Smith appreciates Martin's earlier work of the 1950's and 60's rather than her later work- to her death in 2004. Smith recognizes Martin is an extreme minimalist artist, yet seems to describe Martin's work very mundanely. I do not agree with this author's opinion of Agnes Martin's art. I think of Agnes Martin to be somewhat like Mark Rothko. Minimal art can appear cold, as Smith states referring to Martin's art work, but if one meditates long enough on whatever minimal mark, line, color, texture, light that is being portrayed, the work of art can become very strong and have a great affect on the viewer. I really love Mark Rothko's paintings! I've read that some people who have seen them in person have felt spiritual revelations and the simple colors had a great effect on their emotions. I think this is the beauty of minimal art. It really makes us slow down and really look at whatever little or simple piece of information is being portrayed. It also can help us listen to ourselves.
Agnes Martin's work has always inspired me, her newer work as well as the old. Perhaps the critic of this article does not know or appreciate the excitement of the ambiguity of minimal art, which is understandable because minimal art, like all other artistic styles, is very personal and one must have the taste for it, much like one would have a very different taste for Andy Warhol. The central thesis of Smith's review is that Agnes Martin's work did not improve as she grew older; her concepts grew colder, more minimal, and ambiguous. I disagree, finding Martin's work to be a positive progression throughout her art-making career.
"Arranged by formal likenesses, the display moves from vertical elements to horizontal ones to occasional intersections of both. There are side trips into triangles and some atypical floating shapes, including circles, squares and, in one case, angled planes that cause a rare foray into deep pictorial space." This is a quote from Smith's review describing Martin's later work. I find this description to be simple and true. It relates to the formal elements of art we've discussed in class. The formal elements of line, shape, and color harmonize perfectly in Martin's work. Her line variation, repetition of shapes, calming colors create a very individualistic style. It is so difficult to create minimal art, I feel, because whatever information is laid down is extremely important because of its rarity.
I have to say looking at those photos before reading your blog I don't know if I would have said I considered them artwork. The first one especially looks like a mere pencil doodle that anyone could create. However, I really liked your evaluation of this type of style and the artist's work. It definitely does invite you to slow down your thinking process and just ponder the content and form of what's in front of you and why the artist made the decisions she did in her piece. There are definitely a lot of formal elements incorporated into each piece, I think line being the strongest. I'm very unfamiliar with this artist and this type of style so it is a little difficult for me to understand it, but I still can appreciate it nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that there is importance and beauty to minimal artwork.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen these pieces before, but I find them very beautiful and intriguing. I feel like there is so much room for interpretation.
I think I'm also having trouble knowing and appreciating the excitement of ambiguity in minimal art. The second image I can understand, the third seems a little better, but its hard to enjoy the first image. Now I understand that different people have different opinions about the purpose of art, but for me, I like to enjoy it, for whatever reason. Usually I'm all about simple, but I would need to actually talk to the artist in order to appreciate most minimal art. Sometimes it seems that a statement about art is being made, rather than art. And sometimes that statement...let's say "Art is everything and everything is art" is a little too much for me to agree with. There is a lot of good in 'simple', but too much simple is just.......too simple.
ReplyDeleteConceptual and Minimal art is such a tricky subject. I think one reason why it's so hard for me to understand is that I simply don't enjoy looking at it. There is something about it that seems cold and boring. I like extravagant things that are warm and supple that maybe have too much detail. I think that that is why it is difficult for me to understand and discuss art like this. After reading your blog it is helping me understand the amount of planning that goes into pieces like these, and that the amount of time spent thinking about a piece is just as valuable as the time spend executing it.
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