Across the bottom of this abstract minimal painting titled “One” I wrote: “This is way cool!! 🙂 Just like emptiness doesn’t mean nothingness; not painting a painting doesn’t mean there’s no painting as you can see here.”
“One” is minimal – it is simplicity without clutter. It’s palette is monochromatic. Minimalism emerged in the early 1960s. It started as a reaction against the emotionalism displayed in Abstract Expressive Art. Minimal art favored the “cool” over the “dramatic”. It emphasized extreme simplification of form and monochromatic palettes.
Click on all the paintings below to view without having to scroll down.
Minimalism is sometimes often considered a style of the super-rich. The thought is: “I can have anything but won’t clutter my home. I will only acquire the most elegant, simple objects available.”
Minimalism has evolved through the years. What remains consistent is simplicity; nothing is overworked. Minimalism is seen in all the art forms; visual, performance, film, music, literature and architecture. In this blog I am focusing on paintings.
I have been painting for over 40 years. I never intended to become a “minimalist”. It happened because through the years, I have consistently removed clutter that obstructed the painting’s purity. Minimal paintings are about an immediate visual response. This means the viewer is able to experience more strongly the qualities of color, form and space. Here are two examples. The first painting titled “As the Butterfly Flies” is from 2014. The second titled “Lily” was painted a couple weeks ago. Question: is one more minimal than the other?
Below are two more examples of my minimal art: the first, “Inborn Wisdom” from 2014 and the second, “Simple” from 2016. Do you have a preference? I would love to hear your thoughts.
