Back to Basics:
Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation
August 31 – December 6, 2015
Curated By Billie Milam Weisman
Modern art discovered the power of simplicity. This exhibition features examples of modern and contemporary art that use basic shapes and fundamental forms to create riveting visual experiences.
Focusing on simple form and use of color to impart meaning, Back to Basics features a diverse international roster of contemporary artists from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles.
Many powerful images have evolved from basics: Josef Albers’ square, Anish Kapoor’s concave circles, Sol Lewitt’s precise stripes of color, Frank Stella’s iconic protractor series, Ellsworth Kelly’s saturated panels, and Donald Judd’s boxes of color and space.
Other artists in the exhibition, such as Eric Freeman, Joe Lloyd, and Gary Stephan, use imprecise freehand strokes to create simple yet provocative explorations of form, color, and light.
Back to Basics deals with fundamental shapes—circles, spheres, squares, lines—shown generally in primary or monochromatic color. The construction of these works strips away any sense of representational description to demonstrate that less can truly be more.
Elemental shapes work as memory placeholders to convey associative meaning, or focus on the artist’s process of creating. Back to Basics is the simple evolution of universal artistic sensibility through essential exploration of color, medium, and space.
Artists and Works in the exhibition:
ALBERS, Josef - Homage to the Square: "Upon Arrival" - 1958 - oil on board
ARD, Saradell - Spectrum with Stripes - 1982 - acrylic on canvas
BAVINGTON, Tim - Singer - 2004 - acrylic on canvas
BIEDERMAN, Charles - Work No. 2, Monet, 1981-82 - painted aluminum construction
BREST, Isaac - American Fairy Tales - 2014 - painter's tape, sheetrock and wood
BYRNE, S. - Untitled - 1974 - acrylic on canvas
EDGE, Doug - Containers No. 2 - 2003 - epoxy on acrylic on canvas on panel
FINKELSTEIN, Max - Sensor No. 3 - 1969 - enamel on aluminum
FREEMAN, Eric - Golden Eagle - 2004 - oil on linen
FREEMAN, Eric - Paradise - 2004 - oil on linen
GADEGAARD, Paul - Untitled (Primary Colors) - 1983 - oil on canvas
GOLD, Betty - Picos 1 - 2010 - acrylic on handmade paper
JACKSON, Daniel - 10,000 to a Point Somewhere, Red/Yellows, No. 1 - 2006 - archival inkjet print on archival paper
JUDD, Donald - Untitled - 1984 - painted aluminum
KAPOOR, Anish - Blood Mirror III - 2000 - stainless steel and lacquer
KELLY, Ellsworth - Black Panel - 1982 - painted aluminum
KELLY, Ellsworth - Dark Red-Violet Panel - 1982 - painted aluminum
KELLY, Ellsworth - Red-Orange Panel - 1982 - painted aluminum
KELLY, Ellsworth - White Panel - 1982 - painted aluminum
KELLY, Ellsworth - Yellow Panel - 1982 - painted aluminum
LEWITT, Sol - Bands in Four Directions - 1991 - gouache on paper
LLOYD, Joe - Incline - 2014 - acrylic on canvas
NOLAND, Kenneth - Autumn Spirit - 1965 - acrylic on canvas
NOLAND, Kenneth - Flares: Cup - 1991 - acrylic on canvas mounted on wood & plexiglass
OKABAYASHI, Ryu - Untitled
OKABAYASHI, Ryu - Untitled
OKURA, Jiro - Black Planet - 1970 - lacquer on wood
ONOSATO, Toshinobu - Untitled Work C - 1961 - acrylic on canvas
REDL, Erwin - Wall Relief (pyramid rounded concave) - 2014 - Masonite
REY, Michael - Heavy Bamboo - 2014 - oil on Plasticine clay on panel
REY, Michael - Pineapple Grit No. 36 (tête-à-tête) - 2014 - powder-coated steel
REY, Michael - Qatchy Satge - 2014 - oil on Plasticine clay on panel
ROCKBURNE, Dorothea - The Glory of Doubt, Pascal - 1987 - oil & gold leaf on linen
RUSCONI, Paul - Point of Expansion - 2014 - nail polish and acrylic on Plexiglas in artist's wood frame
SCHABERL, Robert - Untitled (Turquoise) - 2003 - mixed media on canvas
SEKINE, Yoshio - Untitled No. 217 - 1970 - oil on canvas
SILVERMAN, Arthur - Green Tetra - 1997 - aluminum
SILVERMAN, Arthur - Untitled No. 4 - 1997 - aluminum
STELLA, Frank - Bonin Night Heron - 1979 - hand-painted print
STELLA, Frank - Sinjerli Variations Squared with Colored Grounds - 1981 - offset lithograph and screenprint
STEPHAN, Gary - Almost Human - 1985 - acrylic on canvas with wood
STEPHAN, Gary - One of Four Futures - 1984 - acrylic on canvas
TASSANANCHALEE, Kamol - The Four Elements No. 5 - 2007 - mixed media and acrylic on wood
THOMAS, Jeremy - Iseki Yellow - 2007 - mild steel and powder coat
VASA, Velizar Mihich - FW Giant (Four Columns) - 1969 - laminated plexiglass
VASARELY, Victor - Tridim - painted wood