Agnes Martin Retrospective at LACMA

Agnes Martin Retrospective at LACMA

One of the wonderful things about being a member of LACMA, is being able to see exhibits before they open to the public. The first Agnes Martin retrospective in the US since 1992 was one of those exhibits.

On display from April 24, 2016–September 11, 2016, this extensive exhibition covers the full breadth of her practice, revealing her early and little-known experiments with different media and tracing her development from biomorphic abstraction to the mesmerizing grids and striped canvases that became her hallmark.

Agnes Bernice Martin was born in Canada, but lived her entire adult life in the US. She is often referred to as a minimalist, but she considered herself an abstract expressionist. Her work has been defined as an "essay in discretion, inwardness and silence," while to me, her work gives me a sense of calm, wonder and introspection.

Martins simple, clean geometric paintings are made in pale brush strokes of color that are lined with pencil.  Her work emerged from her Abstract Expressionist inspiration, yet at the same time precedes the Minimalist movement. 

One thing to note about that Martin's paintings is that while they're repetitive in with their patterns, she was not striving for perfection—rather, influenced by Taoist and other eastern philosophies, she felt her paintings were a reflection of the complex patterns of nature. 

When I think of art I think of beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye it is in the mind. In our minds there is awareness of perfection. - Agnes Martin

Ana Lydia