There is no figure.
There is no ground.
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| Kazmir Malevich, 1918 |
Taken in this respect, the monochrome is an obvious denial, a negative. Certainly this is an understandable point of view. Greenbergian Modernism outlines this model, the exclusion of everything not essential to painting. In effect reducing thousands of years of "progress" to little more than a piece of colored cloth. This is reinforced by the declaration in the mid-twentieth century that painting was dead, that it had exhausted its content and lost its authoritative power over modern society.
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| Ad Reinhardt, 1960's |
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| installation view of Ad Reinhardt's black paintings |
On the other hand it can be argued that the Monochrome opens up the possibility of painting and its uniqueness and originality. The obvious comparison here is to the blank canvas and its seemingly unlimited potential. Monochromes may be seen as a way of unlocking Painting's frame to the outside world much like John Cage did with musical compositions in his iconic "4' 33"."
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| Installation of Ellsworth Kelly paintings. |
Of course both of these takes on the Monochrome are extremely generalized and do not articulate the tens of thousands of individual approaches to the form. Personally, I use the Monochrome for both of these reasons. It is at once a reminder of the frailty of its form as well as a symbol of its strength and endurance.
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| Brent W. Collins "Untitled (Blue Broken Grid)", 2000 Post-It notes on wall |
I use the specific form of the Monochrome as a sign of painting, drawing attention to itself as material and form all at once. The paintings become the objects. The paint becomes physical and instead of asking us to think about illusion we are confronted with an object in real space.
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| Brent W. Collins, "Untitled (Six)", 2005 Latex paint on vellum with hardware |
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| Brent W. Collins, "Untitled (Double Censor)", 2006 Latex paint on vellum with hardware |
I like the idea that a painting can be ambiguous, its only certainty is itself. My monochromes remain forceful and passive. They insist on the viewer to become a part of their system of reference. They exist in our space. They are confrontational. This confrontation does not just come from their physicality, but also from their politic.
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| Brent W. Collins, "Untitled (Attempting Monochrome)", 2002 Latex paint on MDF |
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| Brent W. Collins, "Untitled (Formal Abstract Experimental Object 4)", 2008 Enamel on 2x4 |
I think it is important, detrimental, for a work of art to be able to sustain a dialogue with the viewer. I do this by interrupting the viewers' expected experience with an object. Frustration and denial are built in to the work.
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| Brent W. Collins, "Untitled (Apparent 3)", 2001 Concrete on linen |
