Minimalism has, for some time, been a word used by more and more people across various fields. Despite its widespread use, the concept of minimalism is not one that should be defined exclusively through formal austerity, but rather a concept that establishes new relationships through the use of processes such as essentialization, reevaluated spatiality, and the rejection of the characteristic load, generally, of expressionism.

This reaction to the complexity of modern art also redefines the field of sculpture, sculpture becoming a fertile ground for the development of other subsequent directions, from land art to conceptual art, installations and, often, the realm of eco-art. When we talk about the essentialization of form, it is necessary to first think about the idea of essence. Still controversial, essentialism is based on the idea that any entity contains something essential, defining, often irreducible. Formal essentialization is thus a process aimed at identifying and expressing this irreducible element in relation to a given form. That is precisely why conceptual art places the idea and the creative process at the forefront, while the final physical form of the work remains secondary. 

The Birth of Minimalist Aesthetics in Sculpture 

Historically, minimalism has existed as an aesthetic direction for a long time, a traditional example of its use being Japanese space. Japanese aesthetics has been shaped by principles such as wabi-sabi, meaning the beauty of imperfection, and ma, or significant empty space. The cultivation of these relationships between form, absence, and silence led, in Japanese architecture, to the famous Zen gardens and the tea ceremony, all based on the idea of the defining balance, ontologically speaking, the ultimate goal being harmony between man and nature or, ultimately, between man and the space around him.

The minimalist movement as we know it emerged internationally also as a reaction to the traumas of the Second World War, to expressionism, and to the excesses prefigured by emerging consumerism. The elimination of narrative and the positive appreciation of a direct, even impersonal and rational, aesthetic were meant to favor a formal purification. Thus, Western minimalism is also born out of this crisis of representation and values, with names that still endure today such as Donald Judd, Carl Andre, or Dan Flavin. 

Donald Judd is among the fundamental theorists of this current, his perspective on minimalism being one in which he does not regard minimalism as a style, but as a radical way of rethinking art. Interested in what he called specific objects, he brings to the attention of the art-consuming public those creations which, even today, provoke not always positive reactions. His interest was in creating works that could not be framed within the pictorial or sculptural zone understood in the “classical” sense, with the focus falling on autonomous form made from industrial materials, most often with repetitive aspects. This clarity of form and, implicitly, the physical relationship between object, space, and viewer were the aspects he pursued throughout his activity, with symbolic ambiguity and the subjective load inherent in a work being eliminated from his intention. 

Another important name is Carl Andre, who approaches minimalism from a different angle, bringing sculpture down to floor level. Adding a participatory dimension, due to his belief that sculpture should not only be seen from a distance but also “stepped on,” traversed, lived, Carl Andre emphasizes the importance of materiality and reintroduces, in a new key, the relationship between the viewer’s body and the artistic object. Thus continues the elimination of ornaments, of narrative, in favor of a transitive relationship. 

Last but not least, Dan Flavin demonstrates how sculptural minimalism can also be achieved through an almost absent materiality, light (especially fluorescent light, produced by neon tubes) being his primary medium. Considered his mature work, The Diagonal of Personal Ecstasy from May 1963 is the piece the artist himself dedicated to Constantin Brâncuși. Dan Flavin’s works have a magnetic air, an aura that emerges precisely from the merging of opposites: diaphanous light, weightless and unaffected by gravity, in contrast with the weighted body of the neon tubes which, often, are in precarious positions. The result is a spectacular, radiant one, which places his work firmly within minimalist aesthetics. 

Thus, sculptural minimalism, in the forms proposed by Judd, Andre, and Flavin, is not just an aesthetic of the reducible, but a profound reconfiguration of the relationship between art, matter, and viewer. From the perfectly articulated industrial object to the stepped-on surface or the space invaded by light, these artists have rewritten the grammar of modern sculpture. 

Reception and Influences of Minimalism in Contemporary Sculpture 

In contemporary Romanian sculpture, the influences of this paradigm are found not only in the simplification of forms, but especially in the way the work creates space, invites reflection, or imposes a visual pause. In the current exhibition at WIN Gallery, there are such works, created by Ana Rus and Cristina Iliescu. 

Ana Rus sections, in Germination, an ovoid structure made of marble, revealing a bronze core that seems to dissolve into the air. Beyond the tension between the two materials, the volumes communicate and complete each other. In Genesis, the metaphor is amplified, the creative rupture suggested by the egg-like aspect of the bronze sculpture leaving room for an intense symbolism – which, although not specific to minimalism, insinuates itself as a sign of its later developments. 

Cristina Iliescu playfully reinterprets the concept of minimalist installation in the work Rain, where a wooden window frame, suspended with its hinges upward, lets fall on both sides a rain suggested by transparent threads. Through interaction with light, the transparent threads become visually fluid and resemble water running down a window during rainfall. A nostalgic atmosphere forms, due not only to the rain, but also to the old frame, visibly weathered, through which, most likely, many people have once looked. 

Through different approaches, the works of Ana Rus and Cristina Iliescu show how minimalism can coexist with symbols, with rich materiality, or with affective memory. Whether it is about the germination of forms or the evocation of rain on a forgotten window, contemporary sculpture regains its strength precisely in this controlled but expressive simplicity. Minimalism thus becomes a starting point – not a limitation, but an opening toward the personal essential. 

Minimalism in sculpture is not an aesthetic of reduction, but a form of artistic lucidity, in which matter, idea, and form meet in radical balance. From the conceptual rigor of Judd to the luminous poetry of Flavin or the symbolic fragility of contemporary works, this current continues to inspire an art of clarity and concentration. In a world increasingly saturated with signs and stimuli, minimalism remains a quiet invitation to essence – and perhaps, to sincerity. 

Ph.D. Researcher Andrei FĂȘIE