What is minimalism? The answer to this simple question has defied simple answers. In this highly readable history of minimalist art James Meyer argues that 'minimalism' was not a coherent movement but a field of overlapping and sometimes opposed practices. He traces in comprehensive detail the emergence of six figures associated with the development - Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris and Anne Truitt - and how the notion of minimalism came to be constructed around their art in the 1960s. Despite distinctive differences in method and points of view, Meyer shows how these artists became equated in a series of important exhibitions and texts that led to their designation as minimalists. Beginning with the first reviews of minimalist shows, the book tracks the development of an art that critics dubbed Cool Art, ABC Art, and Primary Structures before settling on the deprecating label 'minimal art'. Suggesting that such work was overly reduced in form and facture, this term implied that the new abstraction was barely legible as fine art to some viewers. Meyer describes the heated polemic that unfolded in response to these practices, the differing claims of the artists and the sometimes intense rivalries that developed within a highly competitive, fashion-minded New York art scene. The book culminates with an analysis of minimalism's canonisation in the late sixties, its reception in Europe and its discrediting by leftist viewers who associated the new art with American capitalist-imperialism of the Vietnam War.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
James Meyer, exploring the debate over artists like Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, Anne Truitt, Robert Morris and Dan Flavin in Minimalism: Art and Polemics in the Sixties, attempts to make sense of minimalism as an artistic moment. Meyer (editor of Minimalism) points out that, at first, the term "minimalism" was derogatory, implying that the art was too reduced and abstract. In the late '60s, the label lost its stigma as the work was widely recognized by major museums, and minimalist art headed toward canonization. Meyer analyzes that process as well as the backlash against minimalism by leftists, especially in Europe, who associated it with American cultural imperialism. He also places minimalist art in a broader cultural context, noting the stripped-down, austere sensibility that prevailed in '60s fashion and design, making the book attractive to anyone who enjoys cultural history. 130 b&w, 30 color photos.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
"By far the best account of Minimalism's development and the essential point of departure for future research on this subject." -- Pepe Karmel, Art in America, January, 2002.
"I can think of no book that undertakes a comparable art-historical account... showing how the movement's consciousness of itself emerged." -- Arthur Danto, Times Literary Supplement, October 19, 2001
"I can think of no book that undertakes a comparable art-historical account... showing how the movement's consciousness of itself emerged." -- Arthur Danto, Times Literary Supplement, October 19, 2001
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chapters trace the movement & examine its major qualities,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Minimalism: Art and Polemics in the Sixties (Hardcover)
This history of minimalist theory and thought is based on the contention that the question of what constitutes minimalism has remained unresolved since the 1960s. Chapters trace the movement, examine its major qualities, and considers the presence of minimalism as a debate or argument developed in response to works of others.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential and Readable,
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This review is from: Minimalism: Art and Polemics in the Sixties (Hardcover)
This book is already becoming the standard work on the etiology of the movement. Meyer combines a complete mastery of the period's theoretical issues with a sleuth's approach to its historical narrative. Essential.
3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant,
By bookie (New York, New York United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Minimalism: Art and Polemics in the Sixties (Hardcover)
A stunning and brilliant book, this is THE essential work on minimalism.
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