The minimal art It is an aesthetic and intellectual trend that seeks to show only the essential, removing everything that is extra or not necessary. This is a trend that emerged in the United States at the beginning of the 60s, as a reaction against the predominance of abstract expressionism and pop art of those years.
Its name derives from the English word “minimalism” and refers to the idea of using as little as possible, trying to obtain the greatest expressiveness with the least amount of resources..
His works are characterized by using basic elements, simple geometric shapes, rustic materials and pure colors. In them a concept stripped of all ornamentation or adornment is shown in crude form.
On the other hand, in minimalism the environment is a fundamental part of what is exhibited, seeking to create a dialogue between the artist, the work, the public and the space. This current had a strong impact on sculpture, painting, design, architecture and music, among other artistic branches..
Today its aesthetic stance continues and is used even in the decoration of houses and interior spaces.
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After World War II, the artistic trends that were in vogue were Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art.
The first was an evolution of surrealism that was characterized by the intensity of feelings and sensations. In his works there used to be no human figures and what was abundant were forms without definition and bursts of color.
The second, on the other hand, was a more consumerist and popular art that was based on the combination of everyday elements, such as advertisements, comics, cinema and television. Its objective was to populate the works with known references to make them more accessible..
In the early 1960s, the minimalist movement first emerged as a clear and concrete response to Pop Art, which it attacked for seeking to adapt to the public's taste and being commercial..
But he was also opposed to abstract expressionism, which he saw as too presumptuous, subjective and meaningless..
In front of them, he proposed a new concept in which minimal materials were used to express only the essential, eliminating everything superfluous..
The word "minimal" was first used by the British critic and philosopher Richard Wollhein, in his 1965 essay entitled "Minimal Art".
With that term he described the monochromatic paintings and the use of ordinary objects that Marcel Duchamp made, in his inventions known as “ready-made”.
In them, elements of everyday life were taken and placed in different spaces to give them a new meaning. The most famous example was the play The fountain, a simple urinal that caused scandals in exhibition halls and museums at the beginning of the 20th century.
Soon the expression "minimalist" came to be used to define the new group of artists who were looking for a new form of expression..
The concept of this movement was summed up by the German-American architect and designer Mies van der Rohe with the phrase "less is more".
Minimalist art is characterized by:
-Economy of resources, leaving only the essentials.
-Search for absolute objectivity from the use of simple and elementary geometric shapes that are repeated.
-Reduction and simplification of concepts.
-Separation of certain traits or qualities to analyze them in isolation.
-Order and accuracy in the lines and finishes.
-Use of rustic materials and pure and neutral colors.
-The space is a complement to the work.
-Total austerity, with the elimination of ornaments, ornaments and everything that is not strictly necessary.
-Functional and structural purism.
-Use of contrasts.
The style and aesthetics of minimalist art have three major influences: Eastern reductionism, the European De Stijl movement, and Russian constructivism..
This philosophy, present in all eastern traditions, aims to simplify something that is complex in order to solve it.
In art, the goal is to reduce the amount of elements and resources used to bring them to their minimum expression.
Born in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 20th century, it was an aesthetic trend whose main goal was to achieve a total integration of art through geometric abstraction and the use of primary colors. For this they sought the purification of the forms until reaching the most essential point.
The word Stijl means "style" in Dutch and it was the name of a magazine in which this movement promoted his ideas.
It was a movement that flourished in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century and gained further momentum from the Bolshevik revolution of 1917.
He himself understood art as a factor for social change and not as a personal expression. In his works, the images had a strong predominance of geometric, linear and flat shapes, and stood out for their communication with the space that surrounded them..
It stands out for its geometric shapes and the use of cubes, pyramids and spheres that are repeated and do not represent concrete figures..
These works seek to eliminate all traces of human footprint, for which the artists commission their designs to industrialists so as not to intervene in the assembly process..
It is a type of abstract painting in which white or colored backgrounds are used, which are modified by tiny lines or dots that cause an immediate visual impact.
They are usually large works, often without a frame, in which rectangular and cubic shapes abound that are proportionally repeated..
In architecture, designs and their structures have a universal character and are reduced to the basics. Its constructions are geometric and stand out for the absence of ornamental elements.
Wood is often used in the setting, both for floors and furniture. Glass and the use of rustic fabrics also predominate.
For its part, the decoration seeks at all times to follow a unity and maintain order and balance..
It is characterized by constant pulses and the repetition of short phrases with few variations, where the intensity is usually in the tone and harmony.
Usually in his songs few notes and few instruments are used.
-Carl Andre (1935), United States. Most significant works: Pyramid (1959), Redan (1965) Lever (1966), Scatter Piece (1966) and Magnesium Copper Plain (1969).
-Dan Flavin (1933-1996), United States. Most significant works: Icons Series (1963), Monument for V. Tatlin (1964), Greens crossing greens (to Piet Mondrian who lacked green) (1966) and Untitled (1968).
-Donald Judd (1928-1994), United States. Most significant work: Untitled (1967).
-Sol LeWitt (1928-2007), United States. Most significant works: Standing Open Structure Black (1964), Buried Cube Containing an Object of Importance but Little Value (1968), Corner Piece No. 2 (1976) and Wall Drawing # 370 (1982).
-Robert Morris (1931-2018), United States. Most significant works: Mirrored cubes (1965) and Philadelphia Labyrinth (1974).
-John Harvey McCracken (1934-2011), United States. Most significant works: The Absolutely Naked Fragrance (1967) and Lavender Box (1969).
-Frank Stella (1936), United States. Most significant works: Die Fahne Hoch! (1959), The Marriage of Reason and Squalor (1959), Empress of India (1965), Color Maze (1966), Harran II (1967) e Ifafa II (1967).
-Ad Reinhardt (1913-1967), United States. Most significant works: Yellow painting (1949), Abstract Painting (Blue) (1952) and Untitled (from the Portfolio “Ten Works X Ten Painters”) (1964).
-Agnes Martin (1912-2004), Canada. Most significant works: White flower (1960), This Rain (1960) The Islands (1961), Falling Blue (1963) and With My Back to the World (1997).
-Robert Ryman (1930-2019), United States. Most significant works: Untitled (Orange Painting) (1955), Points (1963), Twin (1966), Classico 5 (1968) and Surface Veil (1971).
-Yayoi Kusama (1929), Japan. Most significant works: Waves (1953), No. F (1959), No. Green. No. I (1961) and No. 62.A.A.A. (1962).
-Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), Germany. Most significant works: The Barcelona Pavilion (1929), Farnsworth House (1951), Crown Hall (1956) and Seagram Building (1958).
-Tadao Ando (1941), Japan. Most significant works: Azuma House (1976), Garden of Fine Arts (1994), Suntory Museum (1994), Rokko Houses (1998) and Pulitzer Foundation (2001).
-John Pawson (1949), UK. Most significant works: Tilty Barn (1995), Pawson House (1999), Novy Dvur Monastery (2004), Baron House (2005), Apartments at 50 Gramercy Park North (2005) and Sackler Walkway in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew ( 2005).
-Hiroshi Naito (1950), Japan. Most significant works: Toba Sea-Folk Museum (1992), Chihiro Art Museum (1997), Botanisches Museum (2000) and Hyūgashi Station (2008).
-Eduardo Souto de Moura (1952), Portugal. Most significant works: The houses in Nevogilde (1983), Braga municipal market (1984), The house for Quinta do Lago (1984), The house in Alcanena (1992) and Rehabilitation for the inn of the Monastery of Santa María do Bouro ( 1997).
-Philip Glass (1937), United States. Most significant works: Einstein on the Beach (opera, 1976), Satyagraha (opera, 1980), Glassworks (1982), The Photographer (1982) and Akhnaten (opera, 1983).
-John Coolidge Adams (1947), United States. Most significant works: Nixon in China (1989), Violin Concerto16 (1995) and The Golden (1998).
-Stephen Michael Reich (1936), United States. Most significant works: Drumming (1971), Music for Mallet Instruments (1973), Six Pianos (1973) and Music for 18 Musicians (1974).
-Louis Thomas Hardin, better known as Moondog (1916-1999), United States. Most significant works: Moondog's Symphony (1950), Organ Rounds (1950), Oboe Rounds (1950) and Surf session (1953).
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