Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Minimalism

I recently stumbled upon a website that displays minimalist movie posters. This reminded me of previous class discussions about well-known minimalists such as Frank Stella, the artist of the Quathlamba series. As a reaction against Abstract Expressionalism, Minimalist artists reduce a work of art to its most fundamental and necessary elements, while still expressing the entire meaning or idea behind it. Here, in these posters, minimalism is taken to its extreme. Some of my favorites are 15. Spider Man, 39. Planet of the Apes, 40. Dracula, and 41. The Wizard of Oz... Check it out: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1OlDYs/www.listal.com/list/minimalist-posters

3 comments:

Chloe said...

Carl Andre is a famous minimalist artist still alive today. he uses simple shapes and materials to convey his perspective. These are some of my favorite minimalist pieces:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qjP_WS6SS7M/S-LkA8eRV_I/AAAAAAAAASE/KUK_2CdWuos/s1600/carl+andre1.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4gF6YuGUwVM/THlI3tFCigI/AAAAAAAAPGo/HLzP9Qx8-kc/s1600/carl+andre_3_g+spatial+specificity.jpg

chrissy said...

I love stumble upon. Those posters are really awesome. My favorite of them is the second "Dumb and Dumber" posters. The hats and bow ties are simple representations of the mayhem that occurs in the movie. Those piece of the tuxedo represent that backward minds of the protagonists. They also lack a head, conveying the mindlessness of the movie.

C-Sted said...

As a burgeoning layout specialist (aka the creator of the Lyre), I have to say that I have learned a lot from studying minimalist design. One of the first things that I learned (from Michelle Taylor...) was that less is often more. Blank space can draw one's eye across a page looking for something to latch onto. It can create tension or a sense of sterility. It can be comfortable or jarring. Most importantly of all, it is infinitely better than a cluttered page. I'll take minimalism over Neoclassical art any day!