Less Is More!

May 8, 2020 Ideel Art Magazine By Phillip Barcio

Less is more, a popular aphorism by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, not only succinctly captured the essence of emerging minimalism, but inspired the movement that continues to evolve in a number of aesthetico-philosophical offshoots that are committed to intransigent simplification of forms. Going back to a reductive abstraction of Russian Constructivism and Dutch De Stijl (or even Monet according to Clement Greenberg), its contemporary breakthrough happened in 1959 with Frank Stella’s Black Paintings exhibition. By painting black-only geometrical forms and lines (on a neutral white base) he expanded the boundaries of art itself, enthroning minimal abstract art as the most sublime expression of the modernist radical self-criticism. The sixties minimalists responded with a harsh animosity toward abundantly affective and ostentatious art of Abstract Expressionists who emphasized the richness of human experience. Finding the very essence of the artwork in the objects, minimalists claimed the autonomy and self-referentialism of the work. They championed the literal presence of an artwork - without bemusing references to complex concepts, agendas or ideologies behind it - and emphasized the viewers’ immediate response to the qualities of color, form, space, and material. Reclaimed by Ad Reinhardt, whose all-black paintings anticipated the sixties minimalism, less is more began to signify art that was getting rid of nature and negated the artistic expression (and the ideas behind the expression) but which accentuated the ultimate appreciation of medium and form. Inspired by everlasting principles of simplicity, balance, symmetry, order, harmony, and wholeness, minimal abstract art remains widely popular. Please scroll below for our weekly selection of ten most compelling minimal abstract art.

Hallard’s fascination with simple forms and cluster of forms evolves in Architectural Butterfly (Dandelion) where he plays with an ambiguity altering between architectural interior and a projecting form. This geometrical art piece relies on form and color to create an optical illusion - manipulating arrangements between objects and colors Hallard is challenging the subjective perception of the viewer. Hallard is an Australian-born abstract artist, curator, and writer whose works on paper and aluminum explore minimalist iconography and monochromatic expressions. He is currently living and working in Byron Bay, Australia.

Brent Hallard

Brent Hallard