“A work can be as powerful as it can be thought to be. Actual space is intrinsically more powerful and specific than paint on a flat surface.”
Space is made by what exists in it or is placed in it. The distance between two rocks on a plane creates space between them. American artist, Donald Judd (1928-1994) developed a rare sensitivity and comprehension of three-dimensional space and expressed it in his art, design and architecture.
Judd thinks in terms of variations and simple mathematical proportions, in ways that allowed him to explore possibilities within a form and to reflect those variations to the world. Through the use of symmetry and asymmetry, color and clear construction, his work turns everyday materials into artistic tools for his expression of space.
A few of his architecture works will suffice to illustrate his keen eye for this artistic expression. In 1958, Judd bought 101 Spring Street in New York and began permanently installing his own work and those of others. He soon ran out of space. By the mid-1970s he had purchased and installed another property in Marfa, Texas, and continuing through the 1980s and 1990s, he repurposed and installed individual buildings in Marfa for distinct areas of his practice – art, architecture, and land.
La Mansana de Chinati/The Block, Marfa, Texas
Photo: Elizabeth Felicella and Judd Foundation.Photo: Elizabeth Felicella and Judd Foundation.Photo: Elizabeth Felicella and Judd Foundation.Photo: Elizabeth Felicella and Judd Foundation.
101 Spring Street, New York
101 Spring Street, Judd Foundation, New York, showing some of Judd’s paintings and furniture designs. Photo: Matthew Millman and Judd Foundation.Donald Judd, Untitled, 1969, 3rd floor, 101 Spring Street, Judd Foundation, New York. Photo: Joachim Wichmann and Judd Foundation. “The installation of my work and of others is contemporary with its creation. The work is not disembodied spatially, socially, temporally, as in most museums. The space surrounding my work is crucial to it: as much thought has gone into the installation of my work elsewhere.” – Donald Judd.3rd floor, 101 Spring Street, Judd Foundation, New York. “I spent a great deal of time placing the art and a great deal designing the renovation in accordance. Everything from the first was intended to be thoroughly considered and to be permanent …” – Donald Judd.Larry Bell, “Untitled,” 1970, 101 Spring Street, Judd Foundation, New York. “My work and that of my contemporaries that I acquired was not made to be property. It’s simply art. I want the work I have to remain that way. It is not on the market, not for sale, not subject to the ignorance of the public, not open to perversion.” – Donald Judd.
Properties in Marfa, Texas
Cobb House, Marfa, Texas. Photo: Elizabeth Felicella and Judd Foundation. The Cobb House is a 1,253-foot adobe-style structure from the 1920s and is one of the three buildings Judd purchased in 1989. He renovated the building and installed his paintings dating from 1956 to 1958 along with furniture pieces, including early 20th century Swedish furniture and Shaker furniture, that he collected.Donald Judd’s Architecture Studio in Marfa, Texas. On the wall hangs Judd’s ‘Untitled, 1961.’ “The main purpose of the place in Marfa,“ Judd wrote “is the serious and permanent installation of art.” Photo: Charlie Rubin and Judd Foundation.Architecture Studio, Marfa, Texas, 2nd floor interior with bookshelf by Donald Judd. Photo: Matthew Wichmann and Judd Foundation.Architecture Studio, Marfa, Texas. Photo: Justin Chung and Judd Foundation.In 1990, Donald Judd purchased a former Safeway grocery store located in downtown Marfa and converted the building into a studio. Today the 6,000-square foot building remains installed with skylights, long worktables and shelving for prototypes, material samples and artworks in a variety of states. Photo: Elizabeth Felicella and Judd Foundation. Photo: Elizabeth Felicella and Judd Foundation. Donald Judd in his Architecture Studio, Marfa, Texas in 1993. Photo: Laura Wilson and Judd Foundation.
