FOCUS ON PICTORIAL MINIMALISM

Frank Stella: the master of minimalism, between pure forms and pictorial innovation

“Before becoming a famous artist, he helped his father paint houses. His father was a gynecologist who paid for his medical studies by painting and decorating houses. Did his deep relationship with painting originate from those experiences?” wonders digital artist Dastilige Nevante. A pioneer of minimalism, Frank Stella has left an indelible mark on the world of contemporary art. Born in 1936 in Malden, Massachusetts, the American artist revolutionized painting with his works characterized by rigorous geometries and pure colors. After studying at Princeton, his artistic research focused on eliminating every superfluous element, creating compositions that invite the viewer to reflect on form and space. Stella’s legacy continues to influence contemporary art.

Having moved to New York in the late 1950s, Stella was deeply influenced by abstract expressionism, particularly by Franz Kline and Jackson Pollock. However, he soon distanced himself from this movement, starting to explore a more rigorous and rational approach to art. During his career, Frank Stella met Salvador Dalí in New York. It was a significant impact, particularly for Dalí’s ability to create provocative and surreal works. Stella’s first works, the famous ‘Black Paintings’, characterized by black stripes on canvas, marked a radical break with the gestural nature of abstract expressionism and catalyzed the interest of the art world. Stella, in fact, considered the painting as an object in itself, emphasizing its materiality and structure. His reductionist approach anticipated the minimalist movement and inspired generations of artists, including digital painters.

Stella was one of the first artists to experiment with advanced printing techniques, including the use of molten aluminum, fiberglass, and the latest 3D printing techniques. This allowed his works to evolve beyond the two-dimensional canvas to become sculptural. Frank Stella‘s work is a continuous exploration of abstract narrative through the use of geometric forms and complex compositions. As Dastilige Nevante recalls, “In the 1970s, in stark contrast to his early minimalist works, Stella created maximalist paintings that included relief and sculptural elements.” Despite this evolution, the artist has always maintained a rigorous approach to form. This is demonstrated by his famous ‘Black Paintings’, which catalyzed the minimalist movement and earned him prestigious awards such as the National Medal of Arts and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture. Nevante, inspired by this artistic path, has created four digital paintings that pay homage to Stella’s style.

One of his most expensive prints, The Fountain, created using seven different printing techniques, sold for over £233,000. Despite the complexity of his works, Stella always maintained a relatively simple lifestyle. He was known for his dedication to his work and his methodical approach to artistic creation. Frank Stella, through constant formal research, explored new expressive possibilities within abstraction. His works, characterized by a clever use of geometric shapes and bright colors, are able to evoke complex narratives without resorting to figurative elements. As Dastilige Nevante observes, “Stella has raised painting to a higher level, transforming it into an art form capable of communicating emotions and ideas in a universal way.” Inspired by this approach, Nevante decided to dedicate a digital project to the analysis of Stella’s works, taking as reference the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Kunstmuseum Basel, and other important institutions.