Venus by Man Ray, 1937
Yves Klein’s Anthropométrie, 1960. Hirshhorn Museum.
“La forme du corps de la femme, ses lignes ne l’intéressent pas. C’est son climat affectif pur qui est valable. “Très vite je me suis aperçu que c’était le bloc du corps lui-même, c’est-à-dire le tronc et encore une partie des cuisses, qui me fascinait. Les mains, les bras, la tête, les jambes étaient sans importance. Le corps seul vit, tout puissant, et ne pense pas.” Le corps ainsi réduit à la dimension essentielle de buste apparaît comme le symbole anthropométrique de la chair, qui est énergie vitale. La chair est le siège de la vie.”
- P.Restany, Yves Klein, 1982
![Yves Klein, Le Vide, Iris Clert Gallery, Paris 1958
“Il peint en blanc une pièce qu’il a préalablement entièrement vidée. Dans ce temple monochrome, le spectateur, contraint à une attitude contemplative, se trouve comme immergé dans la couleur. Klein donne deux titres à cette œuvre: le premier est laconique - le Vide -, le second, bien plus explicite, fait office de manifeste: la Spécialisation de la sensibilité à l’état matière première en sensibilité picturale stabilisée. […]
Le monochrome serait, selon Klein, l’équivalent pictural du vide, la couleur créant un effet de dématérialisation. Contrairement aux lignes, qui “barreaux de prison psychologique”, divisent et cloissonent, les couleurs seraient ainsi promesses d’unité, d’ouverture.” (Beaux Arts)](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf3lcwjPIS1qbrj0ro1_500.jpg)
Yves Klein, Le Vide, Iris Clert Gallery, Paris 1958
“Il peint en blanc une pièce qu’il a préalablement entièrement vidée. Dans ce temple monochrome, le spectateur, contraint à une attitude contemplative, se trouve comme immergé dans la couleur. Klein donne deux titres à cette œuvre: le premier est laconique - le Vide -, le second, bien plus explicite, fait office de manifeste: la Spécialisation de la sensibilité à l’état matière première en sensibilité picturale stabilisée. […]
Le monochrome serait, selon Klein, l’équivalent pictural du vide, la couleur créant un effet de dématérialisation. Contrairement aux lignes, qui “barreaux de prison psychologique”, divisent et cloissonent, les couleurs seraient ainsi promesses d’unité, d’ouverture.” (Beaux Arts)
Seagram Murals, Mark Rothko, 1959.
“Rothko disclosed to John Fischer, publisher of Harper’s, that his true intention for the Seagram murals was to paint “something that will ruin the appetite of every son-of-a-bitch who ever eats in that room. If the restaurant would refuse to put up my murals, that would be the ultimate compliment. But they won’t. People can stand anything these days.”
![Kazimir Malevich, “Last Futurist Exhibition” (1915).
“In 1913 Malevich met a group of artists and poets interested in taking a more philosophical and theoretical approach to art. The theory espoused by Krucherykh and Khlebnikov of the ‘self-sufficient world’ influenced Malevich enormously. The notion of ‘zaum’ was promoted, a state where experience occurs beyond the naturally perceived world. This concept and his work for the Cubo-Futurist opera ‘Victory Over The Sun’ (1913) propelled Malevich into the style of Suprematism. It was first seen at the ‘0,10’ (Zero-Ten) exhibition of 1915, and is best shown by works such as ‘Black Square’ (1915) and ‘Black Cross’ [various dates]. Suprematism reduced abstract painting to a previously unheard of geometrical simplicity. His work at this time ranged from the austere with his ‘White on White’ series to the colourful such as in ‘Yellow Parallelogram on White’ (1917). Although Malevich only worked in this style for about five years, it is crucial to understanding his development and his work as a whole.” (dmoma)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2fjgl561a1r70t2xo1_500.jpg)
Kazimir Malevich, “Last Futurist Exhibition” (1915).
“In 1913 Malevich met a group of artists and poets interested in taking a more philosophical and theoretical approach to art. The theory espoused by Krucherykh and Khlebnikov of the ‘self-sufficient world’ influenced Malevich enormously. The notion of ‘zaum’ was promoted, a state where experience occurs beyond the naturally perceived world. This concept and his work for the Cubo-Futurist opera ‘Victory Over The Sun’ (1913) propelled Malevich into the style of Suprematism. It was first seen at the ‘0,10’ (Zero-Ten) exhibition of 1915, and is best shown by works such as ‘Black Square’ (1915) and ‘Black Cross’ [various dates]. Suprematism reduced abstract painting to a previously unheard of geometrical simplicity. His work at this time ranged from the austere with his ‘White on White’ series to the colourful such as in ‘Yellow Parallelogram on White’ (1917). Although Malevich only worked in this style for about five years, it is crucial to understanding his development and his work as a whole.” (dmoma)
![La Lección Respiratoria (The Breathing Lesson) [film still], Dora Garcia, 2001. Video with stereo sound, 16 mins.
“In her video La Leccion Respiratoria, Dora Garcia investigates the power relationships between coach and student in a scenario where the skill being taught is simply the act of breathing. A woman sternly instructs a girl in proper breathing techniques, ones the instructor has presumably mastered at one time, but can no longer perform perfectly herself. She can only instruct a younger, more physically capable girl, who in turn puts complete faith in the older woman, granting her coach control over one of her body’s vital functions.” (dig)](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_masc4a8vKJ1qc135jo1_500.jpg)
La Lección Respiratoria (The Breathing Lesson) [film still], Dora Garcia, 2001. Video with stereo sound, 16 mins.
“In her video La Leccion Respiratoria, Dora Garcia investigates the power relationships between coach and student in a scenario where the skill being taught is simply the act of breathing. A woman sternly instructs a girl in proper breathing techniques, ones the instructor has presumably mastered at one time, but can no longer perform perfectly herself. She can only instruct a younger, more physically capable girl, who in turn puts complete faith in the older woman, granting her coach control over one of her body’s vital functions.” (dig)
Brick Wall, Sol Lewitt, 1977. Gelatin silver print.
“Brick Wall consists of sixteen prints that vary slightly in exposure. The piece surveys the repetition of form and texture to create a more complex whole, and exemplifies the utility of the camera to document processes and series, themes central to conceptual art.” (dig)
Hannover Merzbau: View with Blue Window, Kurt Schwitters, ca. 1930
This, the first of Schwitters’ Merzbau experiments, was a pioneering hybrid art and architecture installation that he constructed in his parents’ house in suburban Hanover between 1923 and 1936. This continuous creative project was a work without precedent, and one that even his closest friends found difficult to grasp. Schwitters himself struggled to explain what he was doing, for art at this time was what you looked at, not what surrounded you, and our now familiar terms of ‘Environment’ and ‘Installation’ had not yet been invented.
