MoMa’s Judd, between sculpture, architecture and design

Inaugurated at the Museum of Modern Art in New York shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic, reopens “Judd”, an exhibition dedicated entirely to the works of American artist Donald Judd.

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1967. Green lacquer on galvanized iron; twelve units, each 9 x 40 x 31″ (22.8 x 101.6 x 78.7 cm), installed vertically with 9″ (22.8 cm) intervals. The Museum of Modern Art, Helen Acheson Bequest (by exchange) and gift of Joseph Helman

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1991. Enameled aluminum, 59″ × 24′ 7 1/4″ × 65″ (150 × 750 × 165 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Bequest of Richard S. Zeisler and gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (both by exchange) and gift of Kathy Fuld, Agnes Gund, Patricia Cisneros, Doris Fisher, Mimi Haas, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, and Emily Spiegel

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1976–77. Stainless steel, Twenty-one units, each 4 × 27 × 23″ (10.2 × 68.6 × 58.4 cm), with 13.5″ (34.3 cm) intervals. Overall: 4 × 108 × 230″ (10.2 × 274.3 × 584.2 cm). Collection of the Des Moines Art Center. Purchased with funds from the Coffin Fine Arts Trust; Nathan Emory Coffin

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1989. Clear anodized aluminum with amber acrylic sheet, 39 3/8 × 78 3/4 × 78 3/4″ (100 × 200 × 200 cm). Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1986. Douglas fir plywood and orange Plexiglas; six units, each 39 3⁄8 × 39 3⁄8 × 29 1⁄2″ (100 × 100 × 75 cm), with 19 11/16″ (50 cm) intervals. Overall: 98½ × 157 5⁄8 × 29½” (250 × 400 × 75 cm). Marieluise Hessel Collection, Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale‑on‑Hudson, New York

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1963. Cadmium red light oil on wood with iron pipe, 22 1/8 × 45 3/8 × 30 1/2″ (56.2 × 115.3 × 77.5 cm). Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Joseph H. Hirshhorn Purchase Fund

View of the reading area located outside of Judd, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 1–July 11, 2020. Digital Image

Installation view of Judd, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 1–July 11, 2020. Digital Image

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1960. Oil on canvas, 70 × 47 7/8″ (177.8 × 121.6 cm). National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1968. Stainless steel and amber Plexiglas; six units, each 34 × 34 × 34″ (86.4 × 86.4 × 86.4 cm), with 8″ (20.3 cm) intervals. Overall: 34 × 244 × 34″ (86.4 × 619.8 × 86.4 cm). Layton Art Collection Inc., Purchase, at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1973. Plywood; five units, each 72 × 143 × 72″ (182.9 × 363.2 × 182.9 cm), with 12″ (30.5 cm) intervals. Overall: 72 × 479 × 72” (182.9 × 1216.7 × 182.9 cm). An additional sixth unit fabricated in 1975. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1973. Brass and blue Plexiglas, 33 × 68 × 48″ (83.8 × 172.7 × 121.9 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Panza Collection, 1991

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1970. Purple lacquer on aluminum and cadmium red light enamel on cold‑rolled steel, 8 1/4 × 161 × 8″ (21 × 408.9 × 20.3 cm). Kunstmuseum Basel

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1989. Enameled aluminum, 11 13/16 × 70 7/8 × 11 13/16″ (30 × 180 × 30 cm). Private collection, Belgium

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1969. Clear anodized aluminum and blue Plexiglas; four units, each 48 × 60 × 60″ (121.9 × 152.4 × 152.4 cm), with 12″ (30.5 cm) intervals. Overall: 48 × 276 × 60″ (121.9 × 701 × 152.4 cm). Saint Louis Art Museum. Funds given by the Shoenberg Foundation, Inc.

Donald Judd, Marfa, Texas, 1992

View Article details

Louis Soulard
21 September 2020

Shortly after it had initially opened, MoMA’s most recent retrospective of Donald Judd was put on hold, the pandemic having forced the museum to temporarily close its doors. Now reopen, MoMA welcomes visitors again and provides a public hungry for art with the opportunity to re-discover the work of Donald Judd. This long-overdue retrospective (open through January 21, 2021), his first in over 30 years, presents roughly 70 works by the iconic American artist. Concise and focused, MoMA’s “Judd” decidedly places sculpture at the center of his practice, which is too often reduced to minimalism—a term that, much like “sculpture,” he resisted. From early paintings executed in the early 1960s to the untitled metallic sculptures for which he is most often associated, the exhibition emphasizes the artist’s predilection for experimentation, highlighting the various ways through which he used form, materials, and surrounding environments to reshape traditional artistic practices.

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1968. Acciaio inossidabile e plexiglas ambrato; sei unità, ciascuna 86,4 × 86,4 × 86,4 × 86,4 cm, con intervalli di 20,3 cm. Complessivamente: 86,4 × 619,8 × 86,4 cm. Layton Art Collection Inc., Acquisto, presso il Milwaukee Art Museum. © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Foto: © John R. Glembin

Over the course of three decades, his activities extended far beyond the realm of independent sculpture. Not only did he engage space in new ways, creating site-specific work and installations, he was also a prolific essayist, an innovator in the fields of architecture and design, and deeply committed to democratic and environmental causes. In Marfa, Texas, where he started to semi-permanently reside in the 1970s, Judd established permanent installations of his work and that of select peers, in what he saw as a necessary counterpoint to presentations such as the current exhibition.

“The space surrounding my work is crucial to it: as much thought has gone into the installation as into a piece itself,” Judd declared in 1977. A temporary exhibition at a major institution like MoMA almost seems paradoxical considering Judd’s commitment to site-specificity and his exploratory approach to space. One can question the validity of having such works concentrated in the new galleries of this long-established institution, which exclude Judd’s important furniture and architectural designs—an essential aspect of his work after 1970. Through this limiting presentation, one is nonetheless invited if not encouraged to reexamine these works in relation to space and to the legacy of sculpture—and more generally, to “think outside the box”.

Judd
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Through January 9, 2021

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1989. Clear anodized aluminum with amber acrylic sheet, 39 3/8 × 78 3/4 × 78 3/4″ (100 × 200 × 200 cm). Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland

View of the reading area located outside of Judd, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 1–July 11, 2020. Digital Image

Installation view of Judd, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 1–July 11, 2020. Digital Image

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1960. Oil on canvas, 70 × 47 7/8″ (177.8 × 121.6 cm). National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1973. Brass and blue Plexiglas, 33 × 68 × 48″ (83.8 × 172.7 × 121.9 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Panza Collection, 1991

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1970. Purple lacquer on aluminum and cadmium red light enamel on cold‑rolled steel, 8 1/4 × 161 × 8″ (21 × 408.9 × 20.3 cm). Kunstmuseum Basel

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1989. Enameled aluminum, 11 13/16 × 70 7/8 × 11 13/16″ (30 × 180 × 30 cm). Private collection, Belgium

Donald Judd, Marfa, Texas, 1992

Sections

Specials

Magazine

MoMa’s Judd, between sculpture, architecture and design

Inaugurated at the Museum of Modern Art in New York shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic, reopens “Judd”, an exhibition dedicated entirely to the works of American artist Donald Judd.

View Article details

Sections

Specials

Magazine

MoMa’s Judd, between sculpture, architecture and design

Inaugurated at the Museum of Modern Art in New York shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic, reopens “Judd”, an exhibition dedicated entirely to the works of American artist Donald Judd.

View Article details

Share

Share