1966: "Primary Structures" Minimalism exhibition

The Primary Structures art featured new, stripped-down naked and materials with smooth, shiny surfaces, but perhaps the most unusual new idea to come from the exhibit was the concept of artist as "designer", not necessarily as "maker". During a forum on the "New Sculpture" conducted at the museum, in which McShine, Judd, Barbara Rose, Robert Morris, and Mark di Suvero participated, di Suvero famously remarked, "Primary Structures is the key show of the 1960s...", and also, "...my friend Donald Judd cannot qualify as an artist because he doesn't do the work", to which Judd replied, "...The point is not whether one makes the work or not... I don't see... why one technique is any more essentially art than another..."This show ushered in a radical new way of presenting ideas and space that did not rely on the artist's hand, but rather on the final result. [more...]