Donald Judd (American, 1928-1994). Untitled, 1969. Galvanized iron and Plexiglas, each unit: 6 x 27 1/8 x 24 inches (15.3 x 69 x 61 cm); overall (ten units): 120 x 27 1/8 x 24 inches (304.8 x 68.9 x 61 cm); Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Edmund Hayes Fund, 1972 (1972:4). © Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Donald Judd was an influential leader of Minimalism, an art movement that favored industrial materials and anonymity over the expressiveness of Abstract Expressionism. Best known for his ability to harness bold color, repetition, and simple geometric shapes, Judd began working with an industrial fabricator in 1964 to create objects according to his exact specifications that are based on the neutrality of the box form. He explained, "I don't like sculpture with a handled look, just as I don't like the evidence of brushwork in painting. All of that implies expressionism, implies that the artist is involved with the work as he goes along. . . . I want the material to be material when you look at it.”
In the work presented here, ten identical boxes in a vertical composition appear to float off the wall; the units are separated by intervals that are precisely equal to the height of an individual element. The appearance of weightlessness is heightened by the artist’s use of translucent orange Plexiglas as the top and bottom of the boxes. When lit, the installation creates a dramatic interplay of color and shadows.
Label from Giant Steps: Artists and the 1960s, June 30–December 30, 2018
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