Register

Donald Judd Furniture at SFMOMA

By Peggy Roalf   Wednesday July 25, 2018

Donald Judd (1928-1944), an artist who rejected painting for the exploration of space, scale, industrial materials, and primary colors, changed the perception of sculpture through his unadorned, rectilinear works. He rejected the notion that his work was “sculpture,” which he said implied that carving was involved. He also rejected the label “minimalist,” stating that he was an “empiricist.”

Once he found his mature style—expressed through rigorously composed, factory-made objects formed out of stainless steel coated with shimmering auto paint, Plexiglas, and anodized aluminum—he made an unwavering commitment to work in three dimensions. In a 1971 interview Judd said, “I was surprised when I made those first two freestanding pieces [shown in 1963 at New York’s Green Gallery], to have something set out into the middle of the room. It puzzled me. On the one hand, I didn’t quite know what to make of it, and on the other, they suddenly seemed to have an enormous number of possibilities. It looked at that point and from then on that I could do anything. Anyway, I certainly didn’t think I was making sculpture.” Judd called these new objects “Specific Objects,” and more specifically, “floor piece;” “wall piece;” and “stacks.”

In addition to his art work, Judd also created furniture for his various residences, many of which are now assembled in the exhibition Donald Judd: Specific Furniture, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Judd’s designs emerged out of a need for simple furniture, developed in response to what he saw as an absence of “good and available pieces.” From tables to desks and chairs to beds, Judd created a diverse group of spare, functional furniture originating from basic utilitarian forms. The show features around 30 pieces of his design, a selection of his drawings, along with furniture that he collected by Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Gerrit Rietveld, Rudolph Schindler and Gustav Stickley, among others. In addition, the museum is presenting eight newly produced pieces from the line of Donald Judd Furniture, located adjacent to the exhibition, where visitors can touch and sit on the pieces.

Donald Judd: Specific Furniture continues  at SFMOMA through November 4, 2018. 151 Third Street, San Francisco, CA Info Installation photos: Katherine du Tiel/courtesy SFMOMA

 

The Judd Foundation offers guided tours of the artist’s formerly private living and working space at 101 Spring Street, New York, NY. Reservations
Above: 4th floor, 101 Spring Street, Judd Foundation, New York. Photo: Matthew Millman, © Judd Foundation.

Guided visits to Judd Foundation properties in Marfa, Texas, are also offered. Info


DART