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3x An Abstraction: New Methods of Drawing by Hilma af Klint, Emma Kunz, and Agnes Martin
3x an Abstraction presents the extraordinary work of three important women artists whose innovative ideas and approaches to drawing had a significant impact on the history of modern abstraction. Hilma af Klint (Sweden, 1862–1944), Emma Kunz (Switzerland, 1892–1963), and Agnes Martin (Canada, b. 1912; U.S. citizenship 1950) approached geometric abstraction not as formalism, but as a means of structuring philosophical, scientific, and spiritual ideas. Using line, geometry, and the grid, each of these artists created diagrammatic drawings of their exploration of complex belief systems and restorative practices.
Noteworthy among the 150 illustrations in the volume are a large number of works by Hilma af Klint, reproduced here for the first time in a major publication; Emma Kunz’s drawings, exhibited in the United States for the first time in 2005; and approximately 20 early works by Agnes Martin. The book also includes writings by each of the artists, an introduction by Catherine de Zegher, seven essays by distinguished contributors, and brief statements from five contemporary artists.
By considering collectively the works of these three artists anew, 3x an Abstraction highlights the artistic contributions of af Klint and Kunz and revisits the work of Martin from a new perspective.
Noteworthy among the 150 illustrations in the volume are a large number of works by Hilma af Klint, reproduced here for the first time in a major publication; Emma Kunz’s drawings, exhibited in the United States for the first time in 2005; and approximately 20 early works by Agnes Martin. The book also includes writings by each of the artists, an introduction by Catherine de Zegher, seven essays by distinguished contributors, and brief statements from five contemporary artists.
By considering collectively the works of these three artists anew, 3x an Abstraction highlights the artistic contributions of af Klint and Kunz and revisits the work of Martin from a new perspective.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published June 11, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 27, 2010
Heaps of insufferable psychoanalysis, but the plates and biographical material is great!
January 5, 2021
Learning about Kunz for the first time. Thinking about the three together was interesting. Not sure I followed all the subtle critical analysis but loved the biographical background and learning about the strength of character to achieve these remarkable heights. Appreciated the collection of voices discussing and or putting in their two cents. Lacking for me was more information about the materials used. The work in all three artists comes from deep introspection.
June 4, 2016
The art in this catalogue for the show at The Drawing Center of the works of Hilma af Klint, Emma Kunz, and Agnes Martin, is pretty spectacular. Of the three, only Martin is somewhat well-known. All work primarily with geometries.
Although I love grids, much of Agnes Martin's work does not move me. The essays covering Martin's work, especially, are hyper-analyzed, the theory putting words between the viewer and the art. Martin's own words and descriptions of her experience and intent are appealing--something beyond color, line, and form, something before words--yet the work itself doesn't connect those ideas to me. Perhaps reproductions of Martin fail to represent.
In general the essays seemed to me to be doublespeak and meaningless intellectual crap. I could not slog through most of them. The fact that critics feel they need to write pages and pages of tiresome overwrought and overthought psychoanalysis belies the universal simplicity they claim for the artists and their work. The words leave the drawn and painted lines empty. "Being"--that's experience, not intellectualization.
Cecilia Vicuna's poetic meditation on Emma Kunz was magic though. Just like Kunz, a revelation to me. A healer, she thought of her drawings as aids to recovery and integration, rather than art. They are intricate, mysterious, beautiful geometries, very spiritual.
As is the work of Hilma af Klint, another artist I only recently discovered. Her intent was to make cosmic connections between the visible and invisible worlds, and the book contains many good examples, some that I had not seen before.
This must have been an amazing show, and I'm sorry I missed it. The work is inspiring, but for the most part, there are too many unnecessary words printed in between.
Although I love grids, much of Agnes Martin's work does not move me. The essays covering Martin's work, especially, are hyper-analyzed, the theory putting words between the viewer and the art. Martin's own words and descriptions of her experience and intent are appealing--something beyond color, line, and form, something before words--yet the work itself doesn't connect those ideas to me. Perhaps reproductions of Martin fail to represent.
In general the essays seemed to me to be doublespeak and meaningless intellectual crap. I could not slog through most of them. The fact that critics feel they need to write pages and pages of tiresome overwrought and overthought psychoanalysis belies the universal simplicity they claim for the artists and their work. The words leave the drawn and painted lines empty. "Being"--that's experience, not intellectualization.
Cecilia Vicuna's poetic meditation on Emma Kunz was magic though. Just like Kunz, a revelation to me. A healer, she thought of her drawings as aids to recovery and integration, rather than art. They are intricate, mysterious, beautiful geometries, very spiritual.
As is the work of Hilma af Klint, another artist I only recently discovered. Her intent was to make cosmic connections between the visible and invisible worlds, and the book contains many good examples, some that I had not seen before.
This must have been an amazing show, and I'm sorry I missed it. The work is inspiring, but for the most part, there are too many unnecessary words printed in between.
November 18, 2011
If anyone has a copy of this to sell for a reasonable price, let me know.
May 29, 2008
This is a catalog for a show at the Drawing Center which grouped three women who use abstraction to address the spiritual.
Hilma af Klimt was an early 20th century spiritualist who used her work to illusrate various states of spiritual experience. A generation later, Emma Kunz was a spiritual healer whose drawings functioned as healing tools in her practice. They were divined by pendulum and placed between herself and the subject during healing sessions. Agnes Martin is a far more modern figure, influenced deeply by a study of eastern philosophy but absent of spiritual specificity. But her work resonates with the same concerns, vibrates with a spiritual tenor.
The essays in this volume embrace a variety of styles from the most aggressive and challenging post-modernist analysis to an essay by a modern day healer which claims that Emma Kunz did indeed have soopapowers! The editors did an amazing job in organizing the material and addressing a subject that gets very little attention in contemporary art.
These artists and the essays there in captivated me for months. I slowly made my way through them, digesting the plates and essays, regularly stunned and moved.
The writing is not all excellent, just marvelously grouped. Some of the indulgent verbiage can be a bit much. But it didn't bother me as much as it used to. I was too taken with the art and the artists.
Hilma af Klimt was an early 20th century spiritualist who used her work to illusrate various states of spiritual experience. A generation later, Emma Kunz was a spiritual healer whose drawings functioned as healing tools in her practice. They were divined by pendulum and placed between herself and the subject during healing sessions. Agnes Martin is a far more modern figure, influenced deeply by a study of eastern philosophy but absent of spiritual specificity. But her work resonates with the same concerns, vibrates with a spiritual tenor.
The essays in this volume embrace a variety of styles from the most aggressive and challenging post-modernist analysis to an essay by a modern day healer which claims that Emma Kunz did indeed have soopapowers! The editors did an amazing job in organizing the material and addressing a subject that gets very little attention in contemporary art.
These artists and the essays there in captivated me for months. I slowly made my way through them, digesting the plates and essays, regularly stunned and moved.
The writing is not all excellent, just marvelously grouped. Some of the indulgent verbiage can be a bit much. But it didn't bother me as much as it used to. I was too taken with the art and the artists.
November 14, 2007
this is some of the best art that i have looked at in a long time.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews