Donald Judd became one of the fathers of the "minimalist" movement even though he denounced the term.
“He never used the term to describe himself,” says Ellen Salpeter, director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami.
Salpeter, also a board member of the Judd Foundation, helped curate a new exhibit on rarely seen paintings by Judd, who’s best known for his large-scale sculptures.
Opening Thursday, “Donald Judd: Paintings” brings together 14 paintings created during Judd’s transitional period from 1959 to 1961 when he experimented with form and color. A 1964 sculpture will also accompany the exhibit, which was co-curated by Judd’s son Flavin Judd.
Trained and educated in New York, Judd eventually moved to Marfa, Texas and established what would become today’s creative compound. There, he pursued the idea of the permanent installation – or that artists should place their own work.
Given Judd's penchant for permanence, it’s a big deal when anything new trickles out of Marfa, according to Salpeter. She says the ICA exhibit will help inform future scholarship and understand his development as a painter and sculptor.
“It’s an opportunity to commission new writing and how he has impacted future generations of artists,” Salpeter says.
“Donald Judd: Paintings” opens Thursday, April 5 and runs until July 15. Admission to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, 61 NE 41st St., is free.
