Artist : Richard Tuttle

I thought I'd share the work of some of the well known artists I respect and admire. I have just a few, minimalist that I am. Richard Tuttle is one of the first that comes to mind.

3rd Rope Piece, 1974. Cotton and nails. Image from Art21.

His work is so pared back, it somehow emphasizes the basics of tension yet remains so simple and beautiful in its' execution. Yet there is such complexity in it all. Most of his work is small and elegant. The size forces the viewer to look for a deeper meaning. One of my favorite series of his are his wire drawings.

1st Wire Bridge, 1971. Wire on wall. 371/2" x 38 1/2". Image from Art21.

Here is one of his more recent works. Less minimal yet so intriguing.


Dark Extension, 2007. Image via Sperone Westwater.

 I'll leave you with a quote from Tuttle that just hints at what he's thinking about when it comes to making art.

"If you’re going to be a visual artist, then there has to be something in the work that accounts for the possibility of the invisible, the opposite of the visual experience. That’s why it’s not like a table or a car or something. I think that that might even be hard for people because most of our visual experiences are of tables. It has no business being anything else but a table. But a painting or a sculpture really exists somewhere between itself, what it is, and what it is not- you know, the very thing. And how the artist engineers or manages that is the question."

- Richard Tuttle