Double Edged: Geometric Abstraction Then And Now
Carefully defined expanses of color and precisely calculated lines鈥攖he characteristic elements of geometric abstractions are often defined as rational, measured, and simple. Indeed, one can describe these artworks with a common vocabulary of shapes, colors, and sizes. Their meaning, however, is rarely so singular or straightforward. As painter Jo Baer noted, the challenge in making such work is to create 鈥減oetic objects鈥� that are 鈥渄iscrete yet coherent, legible yet dense.鈥� She called these efforts 鈥渄ouble-dealing, double-edged.鈥�
Geometric abstraction has long been a vital tradition in American art. Its heyday is often considered the 1960s and 1970s, a moment in which many artists turned their attention to themes of visual perception and physical construction. Frequently called minimal or cool, their work focused on the formal properties of shape, line, and color in ways that were literal rather than symbolic, and with a focus on the objective rather than the personal.
Today, this bold and graphic style is redeployed by 21st-century artists. However, in contrast to the neutrality of their earlier counterparts, many of these younger artists embed their work with personal content and use it as a way to consider current social issues. Presenting the two generations of work side by side, this exhibition consists of historic examples drawn from the Weatherspoon鈥檚 collection and contemporary counterpoints generously lent by artists and their galleries.
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Carefully defined expanses of color and precisely calculated lines鈥攖he characteristic elements of geometric abstractions are often defined as rational, measured, and simple. Indeed, one can describe these artworks with a common vocabulary of shapes, colors, and sizes. Their meaning, however, is rarely so singular or straightforward. As painter Jo Baer noted, the challenge in making such work is to create 鈥減oetic objects鈥� that are 鈥渄iscrete yet coherent, legible yet dense.鈥� She called these efforts 鈥渄ouble-dealing, double-edged.鈥�
Geometric abstraction has long been a vital tradition in American art. Its heyday is often considered the 1960s and 1970s, a moment in which many artists turned their attention to themes of visual perception and physical construction. Frequently called minimal or cool, their work focused on the formal properties of shape, line, and color in ways that were literal rather than symbolic, and with a focus on the objective rather than the personal.
Today, this bold and graphic style is redeployed by 21st-century artists. However, in contrast to the neutrality of their earlier counterparts, many of these younger artists embed their work with personal content and use it as a way to consider current social issues. Presenting the two generations of work side by side, this exhibition consists of historic examples drawn from the Weatherspoon鈥檚 collection and contemporary counterpoints generously lent by artists and their galleries.
Artists on show
- Adrian Ruiz Esparza
- Al Held
- Beverly Fishman
- Daniel Borins
- David Novros
- Doug Ohlson
- Fred Sandback
- Heather Gordon
- Helen Gerardia
- Jeffrey Gibson
- Jennie C. Jones
- Jennifer Marman
- Jo Baer
- Josef Albers
- Ludwig Sander
- Michelle Grabner
- Neil Williams
- Odili Donald Odita
- Robert Mangold
- Ronald Bladen
- Seymour Boardman
- Sol LeWitt
- Tony Feher
- Will Insley
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