Sol LeWitt: Your Mind Is Exactly That Line

By Andrew Frost

In the pr blurb for the massive Sol LeWitt exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, Sol LeWitt: Your Mind Is Exactly That Line there’s a quote from the essay Paragraphs on Conceptual Art written in 1967 for the magazine Artforum: “In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important part of the work.” Reading that quoted line in isolation gives the impression that LeWitt is the perfect example of the conceptual artist, more interested in a cold idea than the warm embrace of emotion.  LeWitt’s geometric paintings, wall drawings and sculptures have a classic and minimal beauty, some a sombre monochrome, others full of colour.

When you read that quoted line in context something rather surprising is revealed about LeWitt and his intentions. “This kind of art is not theoretical or illustrative of theories; it is intuitive, it is involved with all types of mental processes and it is purposeless” wrote LeWitt before going on to admit that, while the work might seem dry, there is “…no reason to suppose […] that the conceptual artist is out to bore the viewer” and that “…only the expectation of an emotional kick, to which one conditioned to expressionist art is accustomed, that would deter the viewer from perceiving this art.”

Until August 3

Art Gallery of NSW, The Domain