DESCRIPTION

The first retrospective in 30 years on American maverick Donald Judd’s minimalist sculpture, architecture and furniture

Published to accompany the first US retrospective exhibition of Donald Judd’s sculpture in more than 30 years, Judd explores the work of a landmark artist who, over the course of his career, developed a material and formal vocabulary that transformed the field of modern sculpture.

Donald Judd was among a generation of artists in the 1960s who sought to entirely do away with illusion, narrative and metaphorical content. He turned to three dimensions as well as industrial working methods and materials in order to investigate “real space,” by his definition. Judd surveys the evolution of the artist’s work, beginning with his paintings, reliefs and handmade objects from the early 1960s; through the years in which he built an iconic vocabulary of works in three dimensions, including hollow boxes, stacks and progressions made with metals and plastics by commercial fabricators; and continuing through his extensive engagement with color during the last decade of his life.

This richly illustrated catalog takes a close look at Judd’s achievements, and, using newly available archival materials at the Judd Foundation and elsewhere, expands scholarly perspectives on his work. The essays address subjects such as his early beginnings in painting, the fabrication of his sculptures, his site-specific pieces and his work in design and architecture.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Donald Judd (1928–94) began his professional career working as a painter while studying art history and writing art criticism. One of the foremost sculptors of our time, Judd refused this designation and other attempts to label his art: his revolutionary approach to form, materials, working methods and display went beyond the set of existing terms in midcentury New York. His work, in turn, changed the language of modern sculpture.

REVIEWS

Artforum-Aria Dean

There couldn’t be a better time to revisit an artist who doggedly confronted form, presence, and politics, both on the page and in ‘real space.

New York Magazine: Vulture-Jerry Saltz

Judd’s minimalism is the ubiquitous dark design energy of everyday modern life. Always there, even if you never consciously recognize it.

New York Times-Holland Cotter

[Judd's] art, once thought to be too severe to be beautiful, can now be seen to offer pleasures, visual and conceptual, that any audience with open eyes can relate too...

Hyperallergic-John Yau

Judd was committed to abstraction and democracy. His work praises human labor and industrial craftsmanship.

New Yorker-Peter Schjeldahl

Works by Judd are almost routinely beautiful, but coldly and even imperiously so, as if their quality were none of your business.

Vogue-Emily Farra

about as close as you can get to a truly immersive Judd encounter.

ARTFIXdaily-Editors

Published to accompany the first US retrospective exhibition of Donald Judd’s sculpture in more than 30 years, Judd explores the work of a landmark artist who, over the course of his career, developed a material and formal vocabulary that transformed the field of modern sculpture.

Forbes: Media-Tom Teicholz

Does justice not only to Judd’s artworks but to his ambition and his intent.

Observer New Review-Helen Holmes

a comprehensive overview of the divisive artist’s grasp on abstraction, space, interpretation and the abolition of illusion.

Brooklyn Rail-Elizabeth Buhe

Bright, beautiful, clear, and succinct.

Art Newspaper-Kenneth Baker

The jacked-up speed of current cultural consumption had made the challenges his work presents more urgent than ever.

Artforum-Hal Foster

Several decades on, the art of Donald Judd is still stunning.

C Magazine-Melissa Goldstein

Serves up a master class in the career of the man credited with putting Marfa on the map and transforming the field of modern sculpture.

Domus-Louis Soulard

Concise and focused, MoMA’s “Judd” decidedly places sculpture at the center of his practice, which is too often reduced to minimalism—a term that, much like “sculpture,” he resisted. From early paintings executed in the early 1960s to the untitled metallic sculptures for which he is most often associated, the exhibition emphasizes the artist’s predilection for experimentation, highlighting the various ways through which he used form, materials, and surrounding environments to reshape traditional artistic practices.

Forbes: Media-Natasha Wolff

The companion catalog to MoMA’s retrospective of American sculptor Donald Judd the first in 30 years—is a stunning tribute to the late artist.