What is Minimalism?
Speaker: Dr. Heather Graham
Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Ellsworth Kelly, Maya Lin, and the Minimalist approach
What does it mean when art says, "what you see is what you see"? This video explores Minimalism, the modern art movement that changed everything. Minimalism was one of the most radical and debated movements in twentieth-century art.
Donald Judd, Untitled, 1969, stainless steel with blue Plexiglass front and sides, 10 units, 172 1/4 x 40 1/4 x 31 1/4 in. (437.5 x 102.2 x 79.4 cm). The Huntington Museum, Pasadena. Photo © Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank
From Donald Judd's stacked steel-and-plexiglass units to Dan Flavin's glowing fluorescent-light installations, Minimalist artists rejected storytelling, emotion, and illusion in favor of pure form, industrial materials, and direct experience.
Dan Flavin, untitled (to Donna) 2, 1971, fluorescent light. Portland Art Museum. Photo © Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank
Video chapters
0:00 Confronting a minimalist object
0:41 Challenging traditions in art
1:05 Truth through materials
1:58 Space and experience
2:27 Displaying minimalism
2:43 Repetition and simplicity
3:29 The object is the message
Learn more
More resources about the modern world.
Learn more about styles and movements in Art History.
