German experimental minimalism from the 60s

The 60s is an era full of daring experimentalism.  Some German minimalist works from that period ...

Franz Erhard Walther at Daimler Contemporary, Berlin 2012:

Ulrich Rückriem at Daimler Contemporary, Berlin 2012:

Rückriem at Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin 2012:

Hartmut Böhm at Daimler Contemporary, Berlin 2012:

New Meditations

The current group show New Meditations at Daniel Faria Gallery seeks to continue, through contemporary investigations, the conversation Russian avant-garde painter Kazimir Malevich started and minimalist artists like Josef Albers and Sol LeWitt further developed.  To me, it's one of the best shows Toronto is showing this summer.

Derek Liddington:

Jose Dávila:

Elizabeth Zvonar:

Jessica Eaton:

Industrial minimal Posenenske

Charlotte Posenenske is another artist getting a lot of exposure in Germany this summer.  Her minimalist works from the 60s were shown like new again in both Berlin and Düsseldorf.

Posenenske at Daimler Contemporary, Berlin 2012:

Posenenske at K21, Düsseldorf 2012:

German minimalism in the 60s

Daimler Contemporary's group exhibition, Minimalism in Germany. The Sixties II, I went to see today could easily be one of the best I am seeing this summer.  Except for two or three familiar names, there's a whole roster of German minimalist artists that I should now start paying attention to.  This show surely enhances my personal artistic discovery.

Charlotte Posenenske and Peter Roehr:

Posenenske:

Roehr:

Eckhard Schene:

Helmut Stromsky:

Hermann Glöckner:

Ulrich Rückriem:

Franz Erhard Walther:

Erich Buchholz:

... and a few more.

Inverse Reverse Perverse

Cerith Wyn Evans' minimalist installation Inverse Reverse Perverse is a large concave mirror that reflects, inverts and distorts the viewer. The ever-changing nature of the reflections suggests the passage of time and the transience of identity.

Wyn Evans at Tate Britain, London 2011:

Collins's reconstruction

Nicole Collins's latest solo exhibition The Reconstruction at General Hardware Contemporary explores the construction, dismantling and reconstruction of painting.  Addition and subtraction are equally likely processes for her compositions.

Collins at General Hardware, Toronto 2011:

Collins' minimalist sound piece one not art based on Ad Reinhardt's writing Art as Art is both cleverly made and intriguing.

m6 re

Visual/sound artist Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva Noto) produced this amazing minimalist work:

Video from ElComandanteSpam's youtube channel

Youds turns on your electric

I almost missed Robert Youds' latest show Turn On Your Electric at Diaz Contemporary.  It was its last day of showing when I went to see it last weekend.  Youds' works show his interest in colour and light.  I can see hints of futurism/vorticism and minimalism.

Youds at Diaz, Toronto 2011:

Minimalist abstraction @ Lausberg

Lausberg Contemporary's recent group show is another showcase of its strong line-up of minimalist/abstractionist artists.  It is THE place to visit in Toronto to see contemporary minimalist abstraction.  Each participating artist can easily put up a strong solo exhibition.  In fact, most of them already did.

Franco DeFrancesca:

Frank Piasta:

Harald Schmitz-Schmelzer:

Joseph Drapell:

Michael Laube:

Wolfram Ullrich:

Mangold @ Hallen für Neue Kunst

Hallen für Neue Kunst in Schaffhausen Switzerland has been the highlight of my annual European trip this past summer.  I have been thinking of going there for a few years but have not been able to fit it into my previous itineraries until this year.  My anticipation was met with total satisfaction.  Owning and showing large-scale works by Carl Andre, Joseph Beuys, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Jannis Kounellis, Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, Robert Mangold, Mario Merz, Bruce Nauman, Robert Ryman and Lawrence Weiner, the Hallen's collection of minimalist/conceptual contemporary art is among the most prominent in the world.

Robert Mangold's paintings are what I found the most impressive at the Hallen.  His use of simple forms with mathematical clarity, though quiet and restrained on the surface, is articulate and powerful.  I rank Mangold as high as Max Bill among all favourite artists of mine.