Tony Smith: “Presences”
American sculptor and visual artist Tony Smith (1912-1980) was a pioneering figure in Minimalist sculpture, despite having close personal ties with the Abstract Expressionists Rothko, Pollock, Newman and Still.
Heavily influenced by his one-time employer Frank Lloyd Wright, Smith's sculptures were comprised of modular block formations, designed to physically alter the space in which they existed.
Like the creative pioneers of the Bauhaus, Smith was not constrained by medium-boundaries. However, he moved in the opposite direction to many of the luminaries associated with that school, turning from architecture to art, rather than vice versa, to realize his creative principles. He referred to his sculptures as “presences”.
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