Composite Series

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A highly influential conceptual artist, Sol LeWitt investigated seriality not only as a format but also as content. Eadweard Muybridge’s photographic studies of figures in motion, two of which are on view in this exhibition, sparked LeWitt’s early interest in serial imagery. On working in series, LeWitt suggested: “it is best that the basic unit be deliberately uninteresting so that it may more easily become an intrinsic part of the entire work.” The artist famously described his way of working: “…all the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes the machine that makes the art.” Composite Series overlays lines oriented horizontally, vertically and diagonally—a simple basis leading to rich visual results. The first print presents each orientation alone; the second, third and fourth in combinations of two, three and four directions respectively; the fifth includes all possible combinations.

Keywords

Paper
Silkscreen
United States
Abstract art
Minimalism