Frank Stella: A Retrospective
[vc_row][vc_column][title type="subtitle-h6"]Abby Sherman[/title][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="11/12"][vc_column_text]One of the most influential American abstract artists, Frank Stella, is well known for his prints, paintings, and sculptures that contain techniques from movements like minimalism, post-painterly abstraction, and geometric abstractionism. Like many artists, his work developed and changed as his career progressed. His early work would, stylistically, fit into the category of minimalism. Trying to break away from abstract expressionism, he began creating non-representational paintings and focused on more simplistic elements of art like color and shape instead of trying to represent emotions or portray an underlying meaning. Such elements were represented in a series of paintings called the Black Paintings, which were created in 1959. These paintings were almost entirely black except that the bands of the black paint were separated by a thin stripe of unpainted canvas. While this was a simple idea, it was an entirely new aesthetic that allowed him to make way for his artistic success.
In the early 1960s through the 1970s, Frank Stella began producing many prints. Continuing with his abstract style, he began creating prints that were a bit less minimalistic that included the use of more color and the exploration of more geometric shapes. As he continued to gain success through his career, he began using a variety of materials, like wood, different types of metal, and unconventionally shaped canvases, to help emphasize the distinction of color and shape within his work. The use of wood and metal eventually led to Stella working in the world of 3D art in the late 1980s. Frank Stella, who currently resides in New York, continues to work today. He still continues to be recognized for his talent and his work continues to be celebrated and displayed within many well renowned museums and galleries.Since February 6th, Frank Stella: A Retrospective has been featured in the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in the gallery on the second floor of the museum, which features over 100 of Stella’s prints from various periods of his career. This will create a visual transition and progression of his creative development through his printmaking. Not only is this the first retrospective Stella has had since 1982, but a revised and expanded version of, The Prints of Frank Stella: A Catalogue Raisonné, 1967─1982 (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1983), has been released in celebration of the new exhibit opening and can be purchased in the MMOCA store. The artwork of Frank Stella will be on display through May 16th of this year.
Featured image courtesy of Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
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