I’ve been re-reading Pictures of Nothing by Kirk Varnedoe the last couple of weeks and have been struck by just how well Varnedoe is able to re/de/construct abstract image making at almost every level and then is able to describe such an amorphous thing in an almost laser-like directness.
In discussing Minimalism KV sets up a framework that would act as a foil to E. H. Gombrich’s Art & Illusion. Could we ever have a argument for abstraction as compelling as Gombrich’s argument for illusion? (Gombrich had argued that illusionism – the depiction of things in a convincing and credible fashion – was one of the great achievements of western civilization.) This framework (on abstraction) is then put through it’s paces in minimalism – from “High Art” to popular culture (including 2001: A Space Odyssey and Mad Magazine)
The compelling thoughts that move me to read and re-read these passages is the approach and the encompassing process that carries the movement of Minimalism through KV’s eye’s, inside and through the culture of the time in which it was made. This book is starting to become a go-to in my studio practice if for no other reason than the voice of the book speaks so well to a physical and mental approach about making and showing objects.
Not to beat a horse I’ve beaten before, but Varnedoe’s book is revealing: VERY few women, especially relative to the import of many artists who happen to be women in the years Varnedoe covers. And very Eastern. It’s like Varnedoe doesn’t know there’s an America west of Philadelphia.
This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for months – you’ve inspired me to start reading it! :))