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review of Minimalism (Themes and Movements)
Minimalism (Themes & Movements). A glorious book combining a multitude of exquisite images of important Minimalist works with an unusual book design that includes overlapping fonts, and font sizes that progressively downsize as the reader moves through the text. (The book designers must have had a ball with this job.)The first section is loosely defined as a history of the development and basic tenets of Minimalism. An idea that weaves throughout much of the work termed Minimal is the use of serial geometry, industrial materials, and factory production methods that deny the centuries-old tradition of art as a unique, hand-crafted object that cannot be replicated. Although Minimalism is no longer avant-garde, its influences are felt today in Conceptual and process art, as well as Neo-Geo. This section goes beyond the traditional survey that simply is a factual list of themes or ideas utilized by each particular artist to also include critical response to the work. Minimalism is broadly characterized as a response to and reaction against the subjectivity, gestural mark-making, and private vision of Abstract Expressionism. The bulk of the book, the second section, is given to reproductions of the works by the Minimalist artists and those often associated with Minimalism. Large photos are accompanied by captions that describe that particular piece. The third and final section is a collection of writings, interviews, and other publications by critics and the artists themselves, chronologically arranged to illustrate the chain of discourse eminating from important exhibitions of Minimalist work.
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