Donald Judd

Donald Judd biography

The American sculptor, painter, designer, architect and art critic is one of the primary representatives of Minimal Art and Conceptual Art. He studied art and art history from 1948-1960 in Williamsburg/Virginia and New York. His early paintings from the mid-1950s revealed influences from abstract expressionism. From 1960, he treated his monochrome paintings as spatial objects, integrating materials and sand. From 1962, he was producing red lacquered relief sand and wood constructions, and from 1966 geometric bodies out of metal and Plexiglas.

These were arranged singly or in series on the floor, vertically ('Stacks'), or horizontally ('Progressions') on the wall. His main interest however was the volume, i.e. the intervals between the installed objects. These intervals were mathematically calculated, in an attempt to remove traditional compositional devices through a democratic, objective design form. From the 1970s, his installations responded to the surrounding space. Analogous to his objects, in 1978 he started designing furniture, therefore widening his sculptural perception, resulting for example in the installation in the building complex in Marfa/Texas. Judd also wrote art critical pieces and essays on art and cultural politics (1959-65 for 'Arts'). In 2004, a large retrospective of his work was held at the Tate Modern in London.