Fried on Bannard
Post #994 • April 24, 2007, 8:11 AM • 31 Comments
Michael Fried on Darby Bannard: Minimal Paintings 1959-1965, opening May 10 at Jacobson Howard.
Darby Bannard's so-called
minimalpaintings of the first half of the sixties are among the pictorial glories of the time. I was there when he began making them—in Princeton the summer of 1959—and I find it thrilling that they will once more see the light of day. Their autograph combination of formal boldness and coloristic originality will be a powerful antidote to most of what passes for serious painting at the present moment.
I'm told that Fried also wrote a piece on Jules Olitski in the April Artforum. Damned if I can find it online, though.
2.
April 24, 2007, 9:54 AM
It has been more years than I can count since I bought a copy of Artforum, but I will get this one.
For my take on Banard's relationship to Mimimalism try Minimalism Mastered where I say Bannard "showed that painters could master Minimalism if 'geometry' was replaced with 'directness"" and that "Minimalism, at its root, was about reduction to the clear statement, not geometry and not theoretical 'content'".
The essay makes the case that the Rococo impulse and painterliness are compatible with Minimalism.
3.
April 24, 2007, 10:47 AM
here are many of the minimal pictures from WD Bannard.
http://www.bannard.com/Early/index.html
4.
April 24, 2007, 11:50 AM
Link's article is interesting. It has been my experience that no one can decide exactly what "minimal art" is, and what he has written certainly expands any definition now extant.
5.
April 24, 2007, 8:59 PM
There is always a paradigm shift in process - in the making and awaiting the future.
6.
April 25, 2007, 1:33 AM
How to get fired in Miami:
1. be honest - tell the truth with no reservations
2. work hard - even stay after hours
3. develope a personal system that may conflict with others, even if you are unaware...
4. use your intuition
5. say hello to everyone
6. take issues into your own hands and deal with them
7. turn negatives into positives
8. eat with your collegues
9. wear team colors
10. help others succeed
8.
April 25, 2007, 10:05 AM
That hubble photo looks a lot like Michaelangelo's Sistine creation panel. Eerily so (assuming the astrophysicists aren't just fooling around).
9.
April 25, 2007, 10:08 AM
M I R R O R image.
10.
April 25, 2007, 10:08 AM
Ahab,
I think the color is added in, or enhanced, based on the spectral data. Still, it's an amazing picture. Good composition too!
11.
April 25, 2007, 12:28 PM
Sounds about right, feux pas. Was this a teaching job?
12.
April 25, 2007, 6:28 PM
Well said Fried; “Their autograph combination of formal boldness and coloristic originality…”
I feel that much of what passes for art today is glib and/or grandiloquent. And that what marks greatness is its opposite and very little of it exist. WDB is one of those.
Thank you John Link for Minimalism Mastered. I would greatly appreciate more writing like this. Any suggestions?
13.
April 25, 2007, 10:43 PM
George, after all of these years looking at pics, that is got to be the best one that I have ever seen...
14.
April 25, 2007, 11:18 PM
feux pas X, possible reason #11: poor French spelling.
15.
April 26, 2007, 12:19 AM
Feux pas is good.
16.
April 26, 2007, 1:12 AM
I understand, french person. 'Feux pas' actually means something coherent, and different to what I assumed was supposed to be 'faux pas'.
17.
April 26, 2007, 1:15 AM
Luckily my bad english doesn't get me fired from artblog, or anything else really at all.
18.
April 26, 2007, 4:23 PM
that "Nature" shot is pretty amazing. it puts just about every painter to shame.
the nasa and hubble sites have so much to steal from. granite and tree bark too.
19.
April 26, 2007, 6:27 PM
what is the source of the fried text?
20.
April 26, 2007, 7:28 PM
Fried. Written for the announcement.
21.
April 26, 2007, 7:29 PM
Or the April ARTFORUM, depending on which text you are looking for.
22.
April 26, 2007, 7:46 PM
I know it's kind of a dumb question, but, what's the proper pronunciation of Fried's name, anyway?
23.
April 26, 2007, 8:17 PM
Freed
24.
April 26, 2007, 9:26 PM
OK Opie,
Most of the stuff that comes up under Fried, other than Menzel, is Chicken.
25.
April 26, 2007, 11:07 PM
I'm not sure what you mean by "chicken", hewho.
26.
April 26, 2007, 11:18 PM
Fried chicken :-)
27.
April 26, 2007, 11:58 PM
Yeah, my original question was gonna be, "Is it pronounced like the chicken, or like the slaves?"
The slaves. Good to know.
28.
April 27, 2007, 6:44 AM
Oh. Duh. Sorry, I was a little slow on that one.
"Fried text". Pretty hot writing.
29.
April 27, 2007, 10:53 AM
"Fried Text": very liberating...
30.
April 27, 2007, 10:57 AM
Where can one read the whole piece? I don't see it on the Jacobson Howard site...
31.
April 27, 2007, 11:56 AM
What Franklin posted above is the complete short statement written by Michael Fried for the announcement of a show opening on May 10, which is currently being printed. The gallery will probably put it up on the web in due time.
The piece on Jules is a full illustrated article written for the April 2007 Artforum which seems to be unavailable on the web but of course can be had by buying the magazine.
1.
Lauren
April 24, 2007, 9:31 AM
Michael Fried's piece in the current Artforum is remarkable reading and well worth the purchase of the magazine. Artforum has not made it a linkable article on their website, unfortunately.