THE MICHAEL KOHN GALLERY IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE AN EXHIBITION OF WORK BY TWO OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ARTISTS OF THE MINIMALIST MOVEMENT: CARL ANDRE AND JOHN MCLAUGHLIN. THIS IS THE FIRST KNOWN EXHIBITION DEVOTED ENTIRELY TO THESE TWO IMPORTANT ARTISTS.

THE THEME OF THIS EXHIBITION CENTERS UPON THE SCULPTURES AND PAINTINGS OF THESE TWO MINIMALIST ARTISTS AND HOW TOGETHER THESE REFINED WORKS OF SYMMETRY AND GEOMETRIC FORM CREATE A DYNAMIC SPACE OF ABSTRACTION AND EXPLORATION.

AS ONE OF THE LEADING MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN MINIMALIST MOVEMENT, CARL ANDRE IS REPRESENTED BY SCULPTURES THAT EMPHASIZE MATERIAL AND SPATIAL SPECIFICITY. HE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT INNOVATORS OF THIS MEDIUM IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY BY MASTERING AND REDEFINING SCULPTURE IN ITS MOST FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES: MATERIAL, MASS, SPACE, VOLUME, AND GRAVITY.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN’S MINIMALIST’S PAINTINGS FROM THE 1950’S THROUGH THE EARLY 1970’S ARE COMPOSED OF GEOMETRIC FORMS WHICH USE SPACE AS A PATH TO CONTEMPLATIVE NATURE. MCLAUGHLIN’S REDUCTIVIST FORMS ARE THE WEST COAST, HARD EDGE MANIFESTATION OF “THE VOID,” THE PHILOSOPHICAL NOTION THAT PERSERVERED THROUGH ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM.

THE SPARE ELEGANCE OF THESE WORKS WILL SHOW, IN THIS EXHIBITION, NOT ONLY THE RIGOROUS GEOMETRY OF PURE FORM BUT ALSO THE ROMANTIC TRADITION IN WHICH MINIMALIST SCULPTURE AND PAINTING TAKE PART.