What’s That Made Of?!

Zhuang Hong Yi, Fine rice paper with acrylic on canvas

Contemporary artists are constantly pushing limits, particularly in the often unconventional ways they employ their creative mediums and materials. Traditional mediums such as graphite, oil, and acrylic paints are still commonly used, however, artists all over the world have found new and innovative ways to express themselves through art in different forms.

There exists an endless array of out-of-the-box materials in the artworld, including neon lights, rice paper, steel-pins, compact discs, thread, smoke, felt, beads, glass, cans and even garbage.

Check out some of our favourite pieces made using unconventional materials below. If you are interested in any of these artists, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

   

Jacob Hashimoto, Wood, acrylic, bamboo, paper and dacron

Dennis Lee Mitchell, Smoke on paper

Sheila Hicks, Linen, silk, cotton, wool 

Lucy Sparrow, Felt, acrylic and thread

Tara Donovan, Gatorboard, paint, and nickel-plated steel pins, and Jean-Michel Othoniel, Mirrored glass and stainless steel. Photo by William Waldron. 

Tara Donovan, Gatorboard, paint and nickel-plated steel pins (detail)

Liza Lou, Papier-mâché and glass beads

Douglas Scholes, Wood, glass tubes, metal, isopropanol 99%, natural dye

Brian Wills, Single-strand rayon thread and oil on oak 

   

Paul Villinski, Aluminum (found cans), stainless steel wire

With its sleek and geometric aesthetic, minimalism is a purified art form of beauty and truth

Truth, purity, and harmony are adjectives that are often associated with Minimalism. The art style, which was pioneered in the 1950s in the United States, stood in stark contrast to the emotionally charged Abstract Expressionist movement. Minimalist artists, including Frank Stella, Ellsworth Kelly, Sol Lewitt, and Donald Judd, sought to focus on space, physicality, geometric shape, and line. Their general aim involved removing any compositional aspects deemed unnecessary or superfluous, to be left only with raw, simple shapes. There is no hidden metaphor, nothing to “get”; each artwork is brutally honest and unapologetic. As Frank Stella put it, “what you see is what you see.” 

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Tara Donovan & Richard Serra

Minimalist art offers both a timeless and sophisticated aesthetic, one that is not prey to art trends. It gives a distinct calmness and maturity to any given space. Minimalism’s elegant simplicity is often misunderstood, but rather than attempt to understand, we should just look. In a world full of confusion, misinterpretation, and doubt, Minimalist art offers us the refreshing ability to perceive something exactly for what it is, no more, no less. 

Today, many new artists continue to follow the tradition of Minimalist art, manifesting the style in paintings, photography, art prints, etc. If you are interested in adding any Minimalist art to your space or would like to learn more about the Minimalist artists mentioned, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Additionally, if you are interested in purchasing fine art to start or grow your collection, or in selling fine art, feel free to contact Robin Rosenberg Fine Art.

Yves Gaucher, Jericho – An Allusion to Barnett Newman, 1978, Color lithograph on wove paper, Edition of 85, 28 x 41 inches

Rirkrit Tiravanija, Rudolf Stingel, Anish Kapoor and Donald Judd

Al Held

Sol LeWitt

Robert Mangold, Double Square Frame I, 2015, Etching, Edition of 48, 22 1/2 x 36 inches 

Antony Gormley and Hiroshi Sugimoto

Frank Stella