You Too Can Own an Original LeWitt

A short piece about Minimalism in relation to Sol LeWitt’s ‘Wall Drawings’…

Sol LeWitt is seen as the primary influence upon both the Minimal and Conceptual art movements in 1960s USA and wrote a manifesto for Minimal Art… which was not a long document.

Much of LeWitt’s art is superficially similar to the Suprematist aesthetics of Malevich, though these two approaches are ideologically at odds. Whereas Malevich used simple, non-representational geometrics to approach grand spiritual and social concepts, LeWitt attempted to create art that was nothing more than what the viewer directly experiences in their encounter with the work.

This was the essence of Minimalism. LeWitt wanted art that referenced nothing but the work itself — a contained reality of the piece. A thing that was both signifier and the signified in one. Art that was not a symbol or indicator of something else, yet achieved the satisfying grace and gravitas of other ‘high art’.

Like Duchamp, LeWitt saw, not the end-product, but the concept behind the art as of prime importance and described the concept as a ‘machine’ that creates the art. He then became fascinated with the idea of transmitting the concept in a pure form which could then be interpreted and re-interpreted by others.

In his series of Wall Drawings, which he began in 1968 and continued to develop until his death in 2007, he wrote sets of instructions which were sent to galleries where assistants or gallery staff would follow them, step by step, using various media to draw directly onto the walls in the exhibition space. Around 1,200 Wall Drawings were produced during the life of LeWitt, many of which he personally certified, though very few that he drew himself.

Most of these drawings on walls were created using a limited visual vocabulary of horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines, often in graphite pencil, sometimes using coloured crayons and inks. Some of these instructions were highly detailed containing dimensions and precise angles measured from defined points. Others were deliberately vague, such as Wall Drawing 103, the complete instructions for which were:

“Not straight, vertical lines, from floor to ceiling, using as much wall area as is determined by the draftsperson.”

Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawings were site-specific installation art: they would vary from venue to venue depending upon the dimensions and shapes of the available gallery walls. So, although the concept was clearly expressed, the results were adaptable. They differed, due to many factors including the size of the wall, the skill of the practitioners and their personal interpretation of the instructions. Small errors and inconsistencies would also occur during the execution of the drawings, and so the same concept could result in unique outcomes each time.

These works were also largely unsaleable, being drawn directly onto the walls, and were erased at the end of the exhibitions. However, anyone possessing the instructions could recreate them… You or I could have a Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing in our own homes on any available wall we wanted it — we just need the instructions expressing the concept and our own responses to that concept.

In some ways, LeWitt successfully removed ‘the hand of the artist’ from the creative equation. His instructions still exist, although he does not, and yet his works can be created anew and the resultant drawings can be considered as original now as they ever were.

The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art have an extensive list of LeWitt’s Wall Drawings with images and instructions HERE and below is a 10-minute video of their ‘Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings Retrospective’ exhibition being installed:

* all images used under license or for educational purposes under fair usage policy

A version of this article was first published in my book Evolution of Western Art (questing beast books, 2012)