Painting is constructed
The history of minimalism in Australia has yet to be written. Minimalism "arrived" late to Australia and never fulfilled what has generally been regarded as its early promise. However, the re-emergence of minimalism in Australia in the late 1980s could be said to involve a genuine reinvestigation of what was otherwise a stunted genre, one which was never truly understood and met an untimely and premature demise at the hands of a host of fashionable styles which overtook it.
The rearticulation of a minimalist art with strong formalist leanings may also be seen outside of the 'provincialism problem'; as not involving a process whereby Australian artists openly and slavishly imitate initiatives from perceived cultural and artistic centres elsewhere. While not denying its sources or origins, this reinvestigation surely avoids any allegation that it is merely derivative and an effect of cultural retardation. Rather, it may be viewed as fresh and rigourous, as an exploration of formalist concerns taken up by younger artists who appear to reflect a new maturity in Australian art.
At the forefront of this "movement" is Scott Redford, whose recent show at Brisbane's Institute of Modern Art (IMA) deserves particular recognition for its multi-faceted yet essentially simple form. This large-scaled floor work comprised twenty-six sheets of silver/blue steel which were welded together in a wall to wall grid and which engaged the language and history of formalist art. While the piece superficially recalled the work of Richard Serra, it did not imply the same heaviness and volume so evident in Serra's works. On the contrary, there was a lightness about Redford's floor piece. The viewer was invited to walk over the surface of this work and, in