Meter Boxes (Primary Title)
Donald Judd, American, 1928 - 1994 (Artist)
“It isn’t necessary for a work to have a lot of things to look at, to compare, to analyze one by one, to contemplate. The thing as a whole, its qualities as a whole, is what is interesting.” —Donald Judd
Like Pop Art, Minimalism rejected the dynamic brushstrokes and emotional content of Abstract Expressionism. No evidence of the artist’s hand appears in Judd’s elegantly proportioned metal boxes. Austere and intellectually challenging, Minimalist sculpture and painting emphasized clearly defined geometric forms and pristine, unembellished surfaces.
These boxes were commercially manufactured to Judd’s precise specifications; each is one meter high and one meter wide. Judd also specified the hanging height and interval between the paired boxes. This piece focuses on color, depth, interval, edge, sheen, light and shadow; the boxes look to no world beyond their own and the space and time within which a viewer experiences them.
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
