View Minimalist pieces inspired by Islamic geometric art

(3R+2B)SW.

Minimalism: Space. Light. Object. the first exhibition on the art form in Southeast Asia, is an eye-opening encounter with the beginnings and progress of art that moves beyond convention. 

Held in Singapore and organised by National Gallery Singapore in collaboration with ArtScience Museum, Singapore, the exhibition features seminal artworks in the Minimalism movement from the 1950s to the present day. Visitors to the exhibition can view over 100 major works by 70 artists, including Donald Judd, Mark Rothko, Mona Hatoum, Anish Kapoor, Ai Weiwei, Olafur Eliasson and Haegue Yang. 

Detail, Basant.

Instead of viewing a framed artwork on a wall passively, at a distance, Minimalism shifted the focus to the physical encounter with the artwork, and the space it occupies. As Frank Stella famously said, "What you see is what you see". The phrase is now inextricably linked with Minimalism, which as the name implies, is about stripping everything away until only the bare essentials are left.

Industrial materials, natural materials and repetitive shapes are some of the hallmarks of Minimalism. Materials evolved in the post-Minimalist period towards the use of soft and more fluid materials. Gravity and chance could play a part in the work.

Of interest is Rasheed Araeen's two wall-mounted latticed forms, which were influenced by industrial architecture and the geometry found in Islamic art. (3R+2B)SW and Basant are both acrylic on wood, created in the early seventies.

 Details:

View pictures of exhibits on Facebook

Minimalism: Space. Light. Object.
Till 14 April 2019
At dual venues: Concourse Galleries and Singtel Special Exhibition Galleries at the National Gallery and at the ArtScience Museum, which houses the larger installations

There are two audio tours available at the National Gallery: Minimalism Highlights, and The More You Look At It.

Book a ticket

Hashtag: #minimalismsg


*The guided tour was sponsored by Singtel.