Great piece. I view minimalism as the end of art. Epistimologically the end. The substrate, the edge, the frame. C'est tout.
I don't care for Judd's work. It has all the reasoning but none of the feel, of André, or Agnes Martin or Richard Long, my personal favourite.
You are right about his critical writing though. He said somewhere that the objective of the work is to be "interesting," something he could recognize in others' work, but oddly not his own.
Thank you for your journey and report. No need to go twice. :)
We are planning another trip anyway because we now know the drill and there are galleries we missed that I'd like to see--such as those devoted to Andre, Flavin, and John Chamberlain. But it's an old lady's prerogative to change her mind....so I don't know. You have probably read the late Arthur Danto's "After the End of Art," which posited that the gig was over with Pop Art. I feel, at a remove, that what's happening now is the end of a lot of things, including a real seriousness about artistic endeavors. The market commands more attention than the artists, and there is so much emphasis in the press on style, glitz, and celebrity. Have a look at my Substack, Vasari21Redux sometime for more thoughts about that. But then again old ladies often reminisce about the good old days. Thanks for reading and commenting.
It's hard to reply to this comment, because all art looks different in different settings, depending on the museum, gallery, or other venue, outdoors or indoors. Judd's work, IMO, shines brightest in spartan spaces. I wasn't too keen on mixing it up with the furniture, but there are one or two galleries not on the tour that I believe would blow your mind. I am sorry I can't give a more definitive answer, but for a lover of contemporary art, Marfa is well worth the pilgrimage.
Solid piece. The tension between Judd's demand for "function" in furniture and his own insistance on rigidly uncomfortable seating really does say something about his worldview. I visited Chinati a few years back and left with that same sense that the work's conceptual clarity dunno if it fully compensates for the coldness. But maybe thats the point,stripping away comfort to force pure visual engagement with space and form.
He remains to me a complete enigma. If I had more time and energy, I would propose a biography. I can't imagine what he was like as a romantic partner (he had three altogether). Demanding, difficult, possibly impossible? What if, say, you wanted to buy some Tupperware for the kitchen? Or a nice Unicef calendar? There must be many many stories here. Personally I thought he was rather attractive.
Great read and wonderful links to MOMA and Judds show their and subsequent videos featuring Judds son. Very informative though I’m not sure I’m going to do a deep dive on Judd. I’m very interested in his art criticism. I might look a little deeper there.
My friend Susan the artist is enthralled by his criticism, which is collected in two tomes the size of bricks. I can't go there. I want to use them as doorstops.
Great piece. I view minimalism as the end of art. Epistimologically the end. The substrate, the edge, the frame. C'est tout.
I don't care for Judd's work. It has all the reasoning but none of the feel, of André, or Agnes Martin or Richard Long, my personal favourite.
You are right about his critical writing though. He said somewhere that the objective of the work is to be "interesting," something he could recognize in others' work, but oddly not his own.
Thank you for your journey and report. No need to go twice. :)
We are planning another trip anyway because we now know the drill and there are galleries we missed that I'd like to see--such as those devoted to Andre, Flavin, and John Chamberlain. But it's an old lady's prerogative to change her mind....so I don't know. You have probably read the late Arthur Danto's "After the End of Art," which posited that the gig was over with Pop Art. I feel, at a remove, that what's happening now is the end of a lot of things, including a real seriousness about artistic endeavors. The market commands more attention than the artists, and there is so much emphasis in the press on style, glitz, and celebrity. Have a look at my Substack, Vasari21Redux sometime for more thoughts about that. But then again old ladies often reminisce about the good old days. Thanks for reading and commenting.
I’ve seen Judd’s work several times at the Dia Beacon in NY. I wonder how different it feels in a space he designed.
It's hard to reply to this comment, because all art looks different in different settings, depending on the museum, gallery, or other venue, outdoors or indoors. Judd's work, IMO, shines brightest in spartan spaces. I wasn't too keen on mixing it up with the furniture, but there are one or two galleries not on the tour that I believe would blow your mind. I am sorry I can't give a more definitive answer, but for a lover of contemporary art, Marfa is well worth the pilgrimage.
Solid piece. The tension between Judd's demand for "function" in furniture and his own insistance on rigidly uncomfortable seating really does say something about his worldview. I visited Chinati a few years back and left with that same sense that the work's conceptual clarity dunno if it fully compensates for the coldness. But maybe thats the point,stripping away comfort to force pure visual engagement with space and form.
He remains to me a complete enigma. If I had more time and energy, I would propose a biography. I can't imagine what he was like as a romantic partner (he had three altogether). Demanding, difficult, possibly impossible? What if, say, you wanted to buy some Tupperware for the kitchen? Or a nice Unicef calendar? There must be many many stories here. Personally I thought he was rather attractive.
Great read and wonderful links to MOMA and Judds show their and subsequent videos featuring Judds son. Very informative though I’m not sure I’m going to do a deep dive on Judd. I’m very interested in his art criticism. I might look a little deeper there.
My friend Susan the artist is enthralled by his criticism, which is collected in two tomes the size of bricks. I can't go there. I want to use them as doorstops.