Carl Andre

Carl Andre (1935–2024) was an influential American artist, considered as one of the fathers of the Minimalist movement. His work in sculpture redefined traditional notions of form, material and space in art. Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, Andre emerged as a key figure in the Minimalist movement, alongside artists like Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, and Sol LeWitt.

Andre was born in 1935 in Quincy, Massachusetts. At a young age, he was deeply interested in both art and literature. He attended the Phillips Academy in Andover and studied under the artist and poet Hollis Frampton, who became a lifelong friend and influence. After serving in the US Army, Andre moved to New York City in the late 1950s to fully dedicate his career to art. There, he met abstract painter Frank Stella, who helped prompt Andre’s exploration of raw materials as sculpture.

By the mid-1960s, Andre began to experiment with a more radical approach to sculpture. His work shifted towards what became known as ‘sculpture as place’, where he used industrial materials like bricks, metal plates and blocks to create flat, grid-like sculptures that were laid directly on the floor. These works invited viewers to engage with the space around them, challenging traditional notions of sculpture as a vertical, monolithic form. One of his most famous — perhaps also infamous — works, Equivalent VIII (1966), consisted of 120 firebricks arranged in a rectangular formation on the floor. Intended to be experienced as an object in space rather than a representational form, this piece caused an outcry in Britain in 1976 when the Tate gallery had purchased the work using funding from taxpayer money. The general public and the media questioned the purpose and aesthetics of modern art.

Andre’s Minimalist approach was characterised by a focus on simplicity, repetition and the inherent qualities of materials. His works often lacked any form of pedestal or base, making them an integral part of the space they occupied. This emphasis on the physical and spatial qualities of sculpture positioned Andre as a central figure in the Minimalist movement, alongside artists like Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Agnes Martin and Sol LeWitt.

Throughout his career, Andre was featured in major exhibitions worldwide, including the 1966 exhibition Primary Structures: Younger American and British Sculptors at the Jewish Museum in New York, which helped to define the Minimalist movement. Despite his success, Andre’s career was marred by controversy, particularly following the tragic death of his wife, artist Ana Mendieta, who fell down from their New York apartment under mysterious circumstances in 1985. Andre was acquitted of all charges, but the case cast a long shadow over his later years. Carl Andre died in 2024, aged 88.