TEXTILES AND MINIMALISM 69 the individual skills of their makers. However, by Judd’s own admission, he was not a skilled craftsperson and he removed the notion of hand from his own work as a means to his own ends. In any case, given that commercially produced textiles unquestionably meet Judd’s standard, this need not be seen as a fl aw within the thesis of the exhibition. The installation includes four textiles from the Aymara culture of the Altiplano and Andes regions of Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina that embody many of the themes of the exhibition (fi gs. 4 and 5). In particular, these exhibit quiet tonality of shading and subtle linear striping, displayed on both the horizontal and vertical planes. The color variation within tonal bands is achieved by skillful and refi ned manipulation of yarns. While the surface of the cloth appears to be in solid colors, subtle variation is often achieved by an overlay of differently hued yarns that result in surprising radiance and sense of depth. Two Palembang shoulder cloths from Sumatra (fi g. 3) represent an indigenous tradition that is often favorably compared to the colorfi eld paintings of Mark Rothko, who is generally thought of as an abstract expressionist, though he himself eschewed association with any particular artistic movement. However, they also reveal a strong minimalist quality in that simplicity of the aesthetic hides the complexity involved in the stitch-resist technique that is used to create the rectangular color block. The aesthetics of a work being dictated by process is a key minimalist concept. A Berber headcloth exemplifi es this quality in that it clearly reveals each step of the process by which it was created (fi g. 2). The weaving process, which involves slit tapestry, is easily discernible to the unaided eye, as is the coloring process, which is achieved through dip-dying and the subsequent application of a single line. Its appearance provides a transparent window into the methods used to create it. Visual subtlety is a byword of minimalism. An unusual Sumba hinggi (a man’s cloth that is used as a shawl or a loin cloth) provides another access point to minimalism (fi g. 7). Usually produced with bold warp-ikat patterns, this example is pure white, the signifi cance of which FIG. 6 (above): Installation view of On the Grid: Textiles and Minimalism at the de Young Museum. July 23, 2016– February 12, 2017. Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. FIG. 7 (right): Man’s cloth, hinggi. Sumba, Indonesia. 20th century. Cotton; warp-faced plain weave. 91.4 x 248.9 cm. Gift of Thomas Murray, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, inv. 2014.102.44.
T82E
To see the actual publication please follow the link above