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Home , 1900s (decade), Cubism, Cubist sculpture, Fauvism, Minimalism, Minimalism (visual arts)

MINIMALISM AND INTRODUCTION

Minimalism and Cubism are two genres of that can be said to have grown from the seeds of . The works produced in both are far from imitation of reality, although deriving ideas from it.

Both cubism and minimalism were a change from the traditional views of art in the time they were founded. Cubism brought a new interpretation of 2D imitationalism by emphasising more on the skeleton of real-world forms rather than focusing on the subject from one viewpoint, whereas minimalism took a step further by making an entire change to the use of conventional materials testing the boundaries of what can be considered as art.

Realism The change from to Cubism is evident in the way the subjects are painted.

In the Realism artwork we see a more realistic version of the Cubism human subjects, whereas the cubism artwork portrays a more shattered version of the subject.

Le Repas des Pauvres Alphonse Legros 1877 Minimalism

From cubism we see the use of straight edges developed into the minimalistic artwork. Violin and Palette The use of colour too developed 1909 from monochromatic to colourful.

There is also tends to be a lack of real world subjects in this genre. Hyena Stomp 1962 CUBISM It began in the early after ’s creation of “Les Demoiselles d’” in 1907. The genre mainly consisted of paintings that followed a monochromatic palette to keep the viewer’s focus on the structure of the subject in the work In contrast to the growing movements at the time such as , , etc. which focused on the use of bright colours and rough brush strokes and replicating the real world subject to the best of the artist’s abilities Fauvism Cubism

Both works, although being from the same time period, have contrasting visuals. While one focuses on the imitation of the subject, the other focuses on the geometric skeleton

André Demain Les Demoiselles d'Avignon 1905 1907

Main characteristic of It features five naked women It’s lack of the genre would be whose figures are created using combined with the limited the abandonment of flat planes with right angles colour palette allows the rather than the conventional merging of the foreground perspectives and with the background, which dimensions, and the three dimensional portraiture of the time. also attribute to the creation implementation of The figures and the of a confusing visual regarding subject construction backdrop consist of solid the positioning of each using straight lines. colours rather than the element and the start or end traditional blend. of the figures.

Heros 1913

Unique forms of continuity in Space 1913, cast in 1972 MINIMALISM

Starting in the early , it could be explained as the inflation of .

It began with artists such as Frank Stella created a series known as “Black Paintings” which drifted away from the traditional ideas of art.

Grid like pattern

Use of only Lack of one colour subject

The Marriage of Reason and Squalor II Frank Stella 1959

This genre mainly focuses on emotions of the audience when viewing the artwork rather than the image created by the work itself.

Although the genre does consist of works in different media, the focus is more upon the creation and use of geometric shapes and forms with the help of industrial material.

Colour in this genre would the role of connecting the viewer to certain emotions such as red relating to anger, green to disgust, etc.

A Wall for Apricots 1968

Arc from four corners Sol LeWitt 1986

144 Magnesium Squares 1969 IMPENETRABLE by

An artwork that falls under minimalism is Impenetrable by Mona Hatoum created in the year 1952. This works features the use of multiple barbed wire as the industrial material. These wires are hung from the ceiling with the use of fishing lines in order to create the illusion of an ethereal floating cube. Use of fishing lines makes the cube look like its floating. Emotional deception felt by the audience as Artist created this they feel calm when viewing the work from a distance experience derived from and then realize that it in fact has an aura of danger her own personal and chaos around it when stepping closer. experience with immigration and does so without the actual imitation of real world subjects. Hence, it looks like a regular cube

Can view the artwork from all four sides

Translucency of the work allows an individual to see one another through the translucent wall of barbed wire, as though they were on either side of a fence.

Amount of material used looks like viewing a large barrier form or a wall which creates the sense of being imprisoned is produced. The use of barbed wire in this case connects to the social use of the industrial material to either keep people fenced in or to keep them out. REFERENCES

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/minimalism https://www.theartstory.org/movement/minimalism/ https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/c/cubism https://www.theartstory.org/movement/cubism/ https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79766 https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/30304 http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/cubism/ https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/frank-stella-1994 https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/r/realism https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/pablo-picasso-les-demoiselles- davignon--june-july-1907/ https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/f/fauvism https://uk.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2018/february/08/understanding-stella- the-black-paintings/ https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/andre-144-magnesium-square- t01767#:~:text=Catalogue%20entry- ,Summary,the%20American%20sculptor%20Carl%20Andre. https://www.nationalgallery.sg/exhibitions/minimalism-space-light-object https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lewitt-arcs-from-four-corners-p03305 https://www.wikiart.org/en/anne-truitt/a-wall-for-apricots-1968 https://www.ideelart.com/magazine/cubist-sculpture https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/boccioni-unique-forms-of-continuity-in-space-t01589