Artist of the Day: Carl Andre (1935- )

What can one say about Carl Andre?  As a minimal artist, he's slightly controversial, for several reasons.  He theorized that art could be made from objects that already existed.  Why carve or mold when a brick was already available?  Positioning of objects could also be art.  This was a novel idea in the 1950's and 60's, which of course is old hat today. 

This led to one of his most controversial pieces, Equivalent VIII (right), which was just a bunch of bricks arranged in a rectangular fashion.  It debuted in London in 1972 and the Brits were unhappy about it, to say the least.  The public was outraged by this modern art, which was paid for by the Tate Gallery.

Andre also had a controversy in his life as he was acquitted for the murder of his wife, Cuban born artist Ana Mendieta, who fell from a window after an argument.  No one else was with them, so no one knows if it was suicide or if he assisted.  However, he
was acquitted, so the assumption must be of his innocence.  

Click on the images for more info.

Sculpture picture to the right:
Copper Galaxy
1995

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Andre