TOKYO.- Donald Judd (19281994), known as a leading artist of the twentieth century, left New York in the 1970s and moved to Marfa, Texas, near Mexico. There he repurposed buildings for living and working, and established the Chinati Foundation for the permanent installation of his work and that of other artists such as Dan Flavin, John Chamberlain, and Ilya Kabakov. Each of the spaces Judd pursued in this way has now, after half a century, remain as Judd intended in Marfa.
In addition to a selection of Judd's early paintings from the 1950s and the three dimensional works from the 1960s through the 1990s, this exhibition introduces his spaces in Marfa through drawings, plans, videos, and materials. The works and materials presented in this exhibition allow visitors to discover Judd's strong conviction about the integrity of visual art and its installation, of which he wrote cannot be reduced to performance.
The exhibition at Watari Museum of Contemporary Art also features a section documenting the 1978 exhibition, The Sculpture of Donald Judd (February 22–March 22, 1978), organized by WATARI-UM founder Shizuko Watari.
In the late 1950s, before beginning to make his works in three-dimensions, Judd started his artistic career with paintings influenced by Abstract Expressionism and the work of his contemporaries. Some of these paintings are exhibited in Japan for the first time in this exhibition. While depicting concrete subjects like landscapes, the paintings gradually became more abstract, emphasizing shapes and colors over the natural world.
In the 1960s, Judd moved away from painting and progressed toward creating three dimensional works. The exhibition features works from the early to mid-1960s and 1970s, including a work from 1990 known as a stack, in which ten units are installed vertically.
Judd and Japan
In 1978, The Sculpture of Donald Judd, a solo exhibition of Judds work was held at Galerie Watari, the predecessor of the WATARI-UM. This visit was the first of the artist to Japan. Exhibition materials, including the accompanying catalogue, as well as the works and drawings acquired during the time will be on view.
Exhibition contents
Marfa, Texas
This place is primarily for the installation of art, necessarily for whatever architecture of my own that can be included in an existing situation, for work, and altogether for my idea of living. As I said, the main purpose of the place in Marfa is the serious and permanent installation of art. – Donald Judd "Marfa, Texas, 1985
Judd first visited Marfa in 1971, where he began repurposing existing buildings throughout the town for living and working spaces. This was a practical application of his belief that the space surrounding my work is crucial to it. In 1986, he established the Chinati Foundation as an independent, not-for-profit site for the permanent installation of large-scale works. Judd's intention for Chinati was to bring art, architecture, and land together to form a coherent whole.
The buildings in Marfa, installed with Judds work and furniture, as well as those by other artists and designers, expand upon his understanding of the relationship between art and architecture. By working with existing structures, and respecting the architectural vernacular of the American Southwest as well as the city s historical context, Judd developed his idea of the importance of space, proportion, and materials in his work.
Realizing a place appropriate for the works, and the coexistence of creating, exhibiting, installing art and living this exhibition introduces his philosophy and practice regarding space through drawings, plans, photographs and maps.
