Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Reductive Impluse

Piet Mondrian, No. 9, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC

"Speaking in the broadest art-historical terms, a reductive sensibility pervades much of the avant-garde art of the twentieth century. Spanning from its earliest decades to the new millenium, a progressive aesthetics of formal clarity developed during the century in tandem with the evolution of abstraction. During the 1920s, Piet Mondrian's omission of all extraneous details from his geometric paintings was prompted by a utopian impulse that equated purity of form with spiritual transcendence."
-- Nancy Spector, from Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated), Guggenheim Museum, 2004
at

3 comments:

  1. Michael KesslerAugust 18, 2009 at 7:17 AM

    Without a doubt the >>>reductive impulse<<<< IS one of the most significant and important developments of all time in Art. The real question NOW though is HOW CAN WE BE INNOVATIVE AND MOVE THINGS FORWARD? The idea that any artist in 2009 is making work that is reminiscent of Kashmir Malevich seems ridiculous to me. These days there are dozens and dozens of neo-minimalists deluding themselves into thinking they are making valuable contributions to the development of painting. By this time it has become a very stale and worn out ISM. Again the real question is HOW CAN WE BE INNOVATIVE?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Leslie Avon MillerAugust 18, 2009 at 7:18 AM

    I love the feeling of space here - to move in, to breathe, to be. Thank you Diane.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michael KesslerAugust 18, 2009 at 7:28 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete