Thought Made Visible: Selections from the Permanent Collection

January 19 – May 3, 2024

Conceptual and Minimalist art movements emerged from the abstract art of the 1940s and 1950s. In turn, additional sub-genres have evolved from these conceptual and minimal principles such as Hard-Edge Painting and Op Art. Thought Made Visible highlights selected pieces from the Zillman Art Museum’s permanent collection that share an ideology of working with a thought or concept visually to ultimately create an artwork. Sol LeWitt, regarded by many art historians as the founder of Conceptual and Minimal art, believed that the idea of the art was of greater importance than the execution of the final aesthetic product. He believed that even a thought could be a work of art. LeWitt investigated line and shape through the application of variation and repetition as seen in Lines from Sides, Corners and Center and Arcs from Four Corners. His contemporary, Robert Mangold, explored similar ideas with a focus on symmetry and geometry. In his four untitled woodcuts included in the exhibition, Mangold depicts a sequence of double trapezoids that contain other geometric shapes and lines. 

Other artists associated with Hard-Edge Painting include Joseph Albers, Ellsworth Kelly, and Frank Stella. For over twenty years Albers was consumed with exploring the format of concentric squares. His series Homage to the Square includes over a thousand paintings and prints of squares with differing color combinations. One could argue that Albers’ interest in the chromatic interactions of the squares and the resulting optical effects influenced the creation of Op Art. In Optical Art (Op Art) images create visual movement, vibration, warping and even hidden images through the construction of lines and shapes. Bridget Riley is a principal figure of the Op Art movement and the set of screen prints on view here highlight her use of lines to create undulating motion. 

New generations of contemporary artists such as Anna Hepler continue to explore these themes. Hepler works with shapes and forms that are informed by geometry and space. Her sculptures Center and Fold, as well as the lithograph Whorl, are reduced to fundamental shapes with details that can be explored by patient observation. 

The artists in this exhibition share the presentation of an idea being translated into a visual vocabulary, rather than the basic elements of visual design. The artworks offer the viewer an opportunity for contemplation. 

 

 

  • Josef Albers (American, born Germany, 1888 – 1976). Homage to the Square, 1967. Color serigraph. Gift of Robert Venn Carr Jr., Class of 1938, 86.8.1
  • Mel Bochner (American, born 1940). All works: Gift of Robert Venn Carr Jr.
    • First Quartet, 1988. Aquatint. 90.3.3
    • Second Quartet, 1988. Aquatint. 90.3.4
    • Third Quartet, 1988. Aquatint. 90.3.5
    • Fourth Quartet, 1988. Aquatint. 90.3.6
  • Richard Deacon (British, born 1949). All works: Gift of Robert Venn Carr Jr.
    • Muzot-I, 1987. Aquatint and etching. Class of 1938, 89.5.3
    • Muzot-II, 1987. Aquatint and etching. Class of 1938, 89.5.4
    • Muzot-III, 1987. Aquatint and etching. Class of 1938, 89.5.5
    • Muzot-IV, 1987. Aquatint and etching. Class of 1938, 89.5.6
  • Anna Hepler (American, born 1969).
    • Center, 2013. Steel wire. Museum purchase, 2015.4.2
    • Fold, 2013. Steel wire. Museum purchase, 2015.4.1
    • Whorl, 2004. Lithograph. Gift of Bruce Brown, 2016.7
  • Ellsworth Kelly (American, 1923 – 2015). Blue with Black II, 1974. Screenprint. Gift of Robert Venn Carr Jr., Class of 1938, 89.1.2
  • Sol LeWitt (American, 1928 – 2007). Both works: Gift of Robert Venn Carr Jr., Class of 1938
    • Arcs from Four Corners, 1984. Screenprint. 89.5.24
    • Lines from Sides, Corners and Center, Aquatint and etching. 88.10.12
  • Robert Mangold (American, born 1937). All works: Bequest of Robert Venn Carr Jr., Class of 1938
    • title unknown (1 of 4), 1962. Woodcut. 2004.9.95.1
    • title unknown (2 of 4), 1962. Woodcut. 2004.9.95.2
    • title unknown (3 of 4), 1962. Woodcut. 2004.9.95.3
    • title unknown (4 of 4), 1962. Woodcut. 2004.9.95.4
  • Harriett Matthews (American, born 1940). Untitled, 1980. Steel. Gift of Deborah DeMoulpied, 90.9
  • Bridget Riley (British, born 1931). All works: Gift of Robert Venn Carr Jr., Class of 1938
    • Coloured Greys I, 1972. Screenprint. 88.10.23
    • Coloured Greys III, 1972. Screenprint. 88.10.24
  • Leon Polk Smith (American, 1906 – 1996). All works: Gift of Robert Venn Carr Jr., Class of 1938
    • Homage to the Constellation, Suite I, 1975. Screenprint, 86.8.29
    • Homage to the Constellation, Suite II, 1975. Screenprint, 86.8.30
    • Homage to the Constellation, Suite III, 1975. Screenprint, 86.8.31
  • Frank Stella (American, born 1936). Furg (1st State), 1975. Lithograph. Gift of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 93.2