Everyday Minimal

Everyday Minimal

Exhibition Details

Emerging in America in the 1960s, Minimalist Art took in the sculptures of Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Robert Morris, Richard Serra and Tony Smith; and the paintings of Frank Stella, Ellsworth Kelly and others. The Minimalists banished abstract expressionist gesturalism - the hand of the artist - in favour of non-hierarchical, mathematically regular, grid-based forms, and literal, impersonal, even industrial surfaces. Minimalism was aligned with phenomenology: its simple, serial structures served to emphasise subtle changes in perception as the spectator's viewpoint shifted in time and space. In America, Minimalism arrived in almost the same breath as Pop Art, also reacting against heroic Abstract Expressionism. But, while Pop countered AbEx by plunging into the everyday, minimalism went the other way, absenting itself further, obliterating external references, becoming more rarefied. At least that's how the story went.

In recent years Minimalism has been positioned by key American museums, particularly the Guggenheim and the DIA Foundation, as the most important American postwar art movement. Consequently it no longer seems like a reaction to a prevailing idea of how art should be; it has become the prevailing idea, art's new commonsense. Minimalism has deeply effected contemporary taste, our expectation of how art should be. And yet these days we approach Minimalism quite differently, less phenomenologically, more semiologically. Although in the 1960s Minimalism aimed to suppress associations, in the postmodern 1980s we were instructed to rethink even the most abstract work as text. Today we recognise minimalist art as a covert form of representation, referencing the abstract logic of the modern world, ironically making it akin to Pop. This idea makes sense of the famous epiphany the Minimalist sculptor Tony Smith reported experiencing. During a nighttime ride on the unfinished New Jersey turnpike in the early 1950s, Smith was blown away by its power and mystery, realising such new artificial landscapes embodied an experience art had yet to capture.

Since the 1970s many artists have reprised Minimalist art, lacing it with all sorts of references. In New Zealand this idea is well represented by the Auckland artist Jim Speers, and his odd infusion of Pop and Minimalism. Speers muddies the space between pedigreed modern art (which we look at closely) and things that surround us everyday (which we don't give a second glance). He has described the lightboxes he's been making since the mid-1990s as "neither ordinary objects passing themselves off as art, nor works of art passing themselves off as everyday things." At first glance his Honeywell (1998) - a recent acquisition - could be a found object. It looks like exterior signage for the computer company. Slightly disarticulated, but fired up, the three lightboxes rest on the floor, as though about to be installed, or freshly deposed. The brandname - a one word haiku - suggests utopian abundance. In Everyday Minimal, Honeywell is accompanied by other works that draw on a minimalist aesthetic, but pollute or complicate it with everyday references. Alongside Speers, will be works by John Armleder, Hany Armanious, Mladen Bizumic, Stella Brennan, Julian Dashper, Mikala Dwyer, Rosalie Gascoigne, Richard Hamilton, Gavin Hipkins, John Nixon, John Reynolds, Ed Ruscha and Ian Scott.

Date
Location
Main Gallery
Cost
Free entry

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I.O.U.
I.O.U.

Mikala Dwyer

Production date
1998
Medium
coloured acrylic sheeting, synthetic rug, television
Size (h x w)
800 x 2000 x 1500 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2001
Accession no
C2001/1/13/1-9
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Honeywell
Honeywell

Jim Speers

Production date
1998
Medium
vinyl on Perspex, fluorescent light tubes
Size (h x w)
425 x 2485 x 305 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2003
Accession no
2003/29
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Untitled
Untitled

Julian Dashper

Production date
1991
Medium
acrylic on canvas
Size (h x w)
1630 x 1630 x 30 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Patrons of the Auckland Art Gallery, 1996
Accession no
1995/36/2
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Lattice No. 61
Lattice No. 61

Ian Scott

Production date
1979
Medium
acrylic on canvas
Size (h x w)
1145 x 1145 x 43 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1981
Accession no
1981/28
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The Gulf (Teen)
The Gulf (Teen)

Gavin Hipkins

Production date
2000-2001
Medium
20 C-type prints (unique set)
Size (h x w)
2100 x 2000 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2002
Accession no
C2002/1/20.1-20
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Big Yellow
Big Yellow

Rosalie Gascoigne

Production date
1988
Medium
roadwork reflector signs on plywood
Size (h x w)
1715 x 2700 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 1988
Accession no
C1994/1/298.1-3
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Five Tyres remoulded (portfolio)
Five Tyres remoulded (portfolio)

Richard Hamilton

Production date
1971
Medium
relief cast, screenprints in black on mylar, sheet of text
Size (h x w)
600 x 850 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased, 1984
Accession no
1984/60.1-11
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Coalsack
Coalsack

John Reynolds

Production date
2001
Medium
vinyl on aluminium
Size (h x w)
300 x 210 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2002
Accession no
C2002/1/2/4
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Fuzzi Duck
Fuzzi Duck

John Reynolds

Production date
2001
Medium
vinyl on aluminium
Size (h x w)
300 x 210 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2002
Accession no
C2002/1/2/5
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Not on display

High Spirits
High Spirits

John Reynolds

Production date
2001
Medium
vinyl on aluminium
Size (h x w)
300 x 210 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2002
Accession no
C2002/1/2/1
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Not on display

Mustang Sally
Mustang Sally

John Reynolds

Production date
2001
Medium
vinyl on aluminium
Size (h x w)
300 x 210 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2002
Accession no
C2002/1/2/3
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Not on display

Silveraider
Silveraider

John Reynolds

Production date
2001
Medium
vinyl on aluminium
Size (h x w)
300 x 210 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2002
Accession no
C2002/1/2/2
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Small Magellanic Cloud
Small Magellanic Cloud

John Reynolds

Production date
2001
Medium
vinyl on aluminium
Size (h x w)
300 x 210 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2002
Accession no
C2002/1/2/8
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Not on display

Time to Burn
Time to Burn

John Reynolds

Production date
2001
Medium
vinyl on aluminium
Size (h x w)
300 x 210 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2002
Accession no
C2002/1/2/7
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Not on display

Wild Duck Cluster
Wild Duck Cluster

John Reynolds

Production date
2001
Medium
vinyl on aluminium
Size (h x w)
300 x 210 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2002
Accession no
C2002/1/2/6
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Not on display

Various Small Fires
Various Small Fires

Ed Ruscha

Production date
1964
Medium
paper
Size (h x w)
179 x 142 x 8 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, transferred from the E H McCormick Research Library, gift of the artist, 1978
Accession no
2003/24/12
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Not on display

Some Los Angeles Apartments
Some Los Angeles Apartments

Ed Ruscha

Production date
1965
Medium
paper
Size (h x w)
179 x 142 x 8 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, transferred from the E H McCormick Research Library, gift of the artist, 1978
Accession no
2003/24/14
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Not on display

Real Estate Opportunities
Real Estate Opportunities

Ed Ruscha

Production date
1970
Medium
paper
Size (h x w)
178 x 141 x 6 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, transferred from the E H McCormick Research Library, gift of the artist, 1978
Accession no
2003/24/11
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Not on display

Nine Swimming Pools
Nine Swimming Pools

Ed Ruscha

Production date
1968
Medium
paper
Size (h x w)
178 x 140 x 5 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, transferred from the E H McCormick Research Library, gift of the artist, 1978
Accession no
2003/24/13
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Not on display

Orange monochrome with four colours
Orange monochrome with four colours

John Nixon

Production date
2001
Medium
enamel on MDF
Size (h x w)
610 x 610 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2003
Accession no
C2003/1/31
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Not on display

Untitled
Untitled

Stephen Bram

Production date
1993
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
405 x 305 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 1997
Accession no
C1997/1/26
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Not on display

Twentysix Gasoline Stations
Twentysix Gasoline Stations

Ed Ruscha

Production date
1963
Medium
paper
Size (h x w)
180 x 141 x 5 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, transferred from the E H McCormick Research Library, gift of the artist, 1978
Accession no
2003/24/10
View Artwork

Not on display

Thirtyfour Parking Lots
Thirtyfour Parking Lots

Ed Ruscha

Production date
1967
Medium
paper
Size (h x w)
255 x 203 x 5 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, transferred from the E H McCormick Research Library, gift of the artist, 1978
Accession no
2003/24/3
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Not on display

Hauturu Doc (with soundtrack 'Adagio Under My Thumb' by the Rolling Stones)
Hauturu Doc (with soundtrack 'Adagio Under My Thumb' by the Rolling Stones)

Mladen Bizumic

Production date
2003
Medium
computer animation transferred to video, single channel, standard definition (SD), 4:3, black and white, stereo sound
Size (h x w)
1min 44sec
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2003
Accession no
C2003/1/29