October 28–31, 2020

with exclusive VIP access from October 28, 12 noon CET to October 30, 12 noon CET

DON DUDLEY I Modular Works

“Nothing here is hidden. This is not ‘less as more.’ The motive has always been to express by the simplest means possible the richest variety of visual phenomena.” 

In celebration of the New York based artist’s 90th birthday Galerie Thomas Zander is delighted to present a selection of Don Dudley’s modular aluminum works originating in the 1970s.

Dudley’s work represents a unique dialogue between the practices of the American East and West Coasts, between the more conceptual Minimalism, Finish Fetish and Light and Space movements. Incorporating industrial materials such as aluminum, lacquer, Homasote and plywood, its colors and textures bear references to the Californian environment and aspire to an industrial sublime.

Born in Los Angeles in 1930, Dudley moved to New York in 1969, where he shifted his attention to structure and seriality. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he explored modular structures with monochromatic color schemes best exemplified by his sleek configurations of vertical, spray-painted aluminum panels. Bent back at the top edge, they float slightly off the walls. The work is directed outward, as an entity on a wall, and thus merges into the space of the viewer.

Once called “classically modern and modernistically timeless” by the New York Times, Dudley’s forward-looking approach has never been dogmatic but is notable for its sense of freedom in reshaping spaces and redefining traditional boundaries in art.

Don Dudley’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at prominent institutions including MoMA PS1 Contemporary Art Center (1982) and New Museum of Contemporary Art (1984) in New York. Two recent monographs, Don Dudley. Early Work(2015) and Don Dudley. Activated Walls (2017) have been published on his work.n of the New York based artist’s 90th birthday Galerie Thomas Zander is delighted to present a selection of Don Dudley’s modular aluminum works originating in the 1970s.

Dudley’s work represents a unique dialogue between the practices of the American East and West Coasts, between the more conceptual Minimalism, Finish Fetish and Light and Space movements. Incorporating industrial materials such as aluminum, lacquer, Homasote and plywood, its colors and textures bear references to the Californian environment and aspire to an industrial sublime.

Born in Los Angeles in 1930, Dudley moved to New York in 1969, where he shifted his attention to structure and seriality. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he explored modular structures with monochromatic color schemes best exemplified by his sleek configurations of vertical, spray-painted aluminum panels. Bent back at the top edge, they float slightly off the walls. The work is directed outward, as an entity on a wall, and thus merges into the space of the viewer.

Once called “classically modern and modernistically timeless” by the New York Times, Dudley’s forward-looking approach has never been dogmatic but is notable for its sense of freedom in reshaping spaces and redefining traditional boundaries in art.

Don Dudley’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at prominent institutions including MoMA PS1 Contemporary Art Center (1982) and New Museum of Contemporary Art (1984) in New York. Two recent monographs, Don Dudley. Early Work (2015) and Don Dudley. Activated Walls (2017) have been published on his work.