Art Without Boundaries 1950-70 PDF
Preview Art Without Boundaries 1950-70
Woods Gerald Thompson Philip John Williams The World of Art Art without Library NEW DIRECTIONS Boundaries: 1950-70 Thames and Hudson With 333 illustrations 15 in colour ^^ff^k •••••••••••••••••••• ™ „«„.,««. •••••••••••••*•• ^^^'^^ [AiNr MISTER ^ri4nepoi Inioi line FREE„ 1^ )IQL^ -Jleqn^ a POI >^^ .(^ e lachei-movfc ,, i'limime(w. unHfflde WILLIAMKLEIN DELPHINESEYRIG JOHNABBEY =-'\. DONALDPLEASANCE J PHILIPPENOIRET " JEANCLAUDEDROUOT SAM!PREY fcT SERGEGAilMSBOURG YVESLEFEBVRE CATHERINEROUVEL OPERAjji ' INTEROrrAUXMOINSDEV3ANS /' vi _1 Art without Boundaries 1950-70 Edited by Gerald Woods Thompson Philip John Williams with 333 illustrations, 15 in colour Thames and Hudson London • x» Any copy ofthis book issued by the publisher as a paperback is sold subjectto the condition that it shall not, byway of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated withoutthe publisher's prior consent, in anyform of binding or cover otherthan that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on a subsequent purchaser. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher © 1972 Thames and Hudson Ltd, London JJ Printed in Great Britain by Jarrold and Sons Ltd, Norwich •-J ISBN 500 181357 Clothbound ISBN 500 201293 Paperbound Contents Preface 7 Introduction 9 The Artists 35 Valerio Adami Chermayeff and Pietro Gallina Geismar Michelangelo Frank Gallo Christo Antonioni Winfred Gaul Chryssa Dennis Bailey Juan Genoves Roman Cieslewicz Saul Bass Jean-Luc Godard Giulio Cittato Lester Beall Franco Grignani Max Bob Cobbing Bill Richard Hamilton Derek Birdsall Crosby, Fletcher, Forbes Dick Higgins Jan Bons Wim Crouwel David Hockney Walerian Borowczyk Allan D'Archangelo Dom Sylvester Mark Boyle Rudolph De Harak Houedard Bill Brandt Eric De Mare John Kaine Robert Brownjohn Walter De Maria William Klein Alberto Burri Federico Fellini Ferdinand Kriwet Pol Bury Jean-Michel Folon Jan Lenica Mel Caiman Lucio Fontana Sol Lewitt Antonio Carena Andre Francois Romek Marber Eugenio Carmi Anthony Froshaug Robert Massin Mario Ceroli Geoffrey Gale Hansjorg Mayer Raymond Moore Paul Rand Stefan and Franciszka Themerson Josef MiJIIer- Robert Rauschenberg Brockmann Jan Tschichold Roger Raveel SainedgfRrioesdemOdaenremaTitstsi A^l,ai.n ^Rob,b,e-G^nll.,,et Stan Vanderbeek Tom Wesselmann Diter Rot Claes Oldenburg HansSchleger Kurt Wirth Giovanni Pintori Peter Schmidt Henry Wolf Michelangelo Pistoletto Richard Smith Edward Wright Biographies 201 Acl<nowledgments 215 Preface The idea for this book took shape at some time in 1968. While teaching at two London art colleges, I was disturbed by the fact that new work in any- particular field of the visual arts was documented and considered in isolation. I felt that it was desirable to correlate many apparently disparate activities. was I aware that the student of graphic design, for instance, might have little knowledge of 'conceptual' or 'mini- mal' art, and that, on the other hand, the fine-art student could be equally ignorant of developments in 'autonomous typography' or 'ideative design'. By the same token, innovation in audio-visual techniques might elude both groups of students. My purpose, in planning this book, was to meet this need by presenting illustrations of a wide range of recent work in the visual arts, accompanied by texts in which the artists' aims are discussed, in many cases in their own words. When discovered I that several of my friends agreed that such a book would be useful, decided that the selection of I material would be both more objective and more interesting if I invited two other people to collaborate with me on the project. The process of compiling and collating the material has been long and arduous. Inevitably, the selection of artists for our survey has been personal and prejudiced, though we have tried to be as impartial as possible. We have often disagreed about the inclusion or the exclusion of certain artists, and the first, provisional list was notablydifferentfrom the final one. We have tried to approach our task without pre- conceived ideas. We are aware, of course, of the relationships which exist between different fields of the visual arts, but we have attempted to discover them by a process of writing and of selection which is, perhaps, analogous to the methods which have often been employed by the artists represented in these pages. We have tried, in fact, in producing this book, to parallel the fluidity of the situation we are describing, and also to see new relationships — Preface usually implicit rather than permanently forged. To avoid loading the argument in any way, we have presented the artists in alphabetical order. We have been fortunate in the assistance given to us by the staff of Thames and Hudson, particularly the encouragement given to the project by Constance Kaine, the help of Madeline Haes and the editing of Mr Michael Graham-Dixon. The book was designed by Philip Thompson. Finally, we would like to record our thanks to all the people who have willingly sent us examples of their work and, in some cases, statements about their work. We hope that the book may contribute towards a wider appreciation of all those artistic activities which are at present isolated by their labels. G.W. 1971 ntroduction At one time it was easy to distinguish between the 'fine' artist and the commercial artist. It is now less easy. The qualities which differentiated the one from the other are now often common to both. The painter, who once saw the commercial designer as a toady to the financial pressures of industry, may now find that the dealer can impose a tyranny worse than that of any client. During the last twenty years or so, barriers have been broken down; and they are still being broken down. The painting and sculpture of the 1950s was largely dominated by abstract expressionism and social realism. There were a few interesting excep- tions to the general trend. Fontana, in developing his spatialist theories, was using neon light in large-scale murals. And, in most countries, individual artists were encroaching on the areas which divide one field of activity from another. A number of key exhibitions in Europe and the United States helped to disseminate new ideas and techniques. The Venice Biennale made, and con- tinues to make, a particularly valuable contribution, as did the Documenta series in Kassel. Certain gal- leries and organizations, such as the Tate Gallery, the Whitechapel Gallery and the Institute of Con- temporary Arts in London, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Museums of Modern Art in New York and Turin, also mounted useful exhibitions. In JOHN CAGE the late 1950s, the influence of John Cage's theories and personality was critical in a new movement to- wards the combination of media. Cage acted as a catalyst: dance, concrete poetry, happenings, paint- ing, sculpture, music - all things were possible for him. During the 1960s the interaction of media became more lucid. Warhol and Rauschenberg began to silkscreen photographic half-tones directly on to Cover of sheet music, 4'33". canvas. A movement concerned with 'concrete by John Cage, a work for pianoconsistingoftotal silence poetry' was established, continuing the experiments for four minutes and thirty- in autonomous typography which Arp, the Futurists three seconds. Thework, how- and the De StijI group had undertaken in the 1920s, eivnesrt,rummaenytableispteorrfocrommebdinbaytiaonny and which had been anticipated by Mallarme in 1897. of instrumentalists Richard Hamilton 'Kent State'. Pring (see footnote on page 129) Juan Genoves 'The Victims'. 1969 10
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