Action Painting:1940–1950sThe action painter abstract expressionists were directly influenced by automatism. Pollock chan-nelled this into producing gestural, improvised ‘drip paintings’ by placing his canvas on the ground and pouring paint onto it from the can or trailing it from the brush or a stick.- tate.org

Jackson PollockFranz Kline

Abstract Expressionism“Abstract Expressionism” was never an ideal label for the movement, which developed in New York in the 1940s and 1950s. It was somehow meant to encompass not only the work of painters who filled their canvases with fields of color and abstract forms, but also those who attacked their canvases with a vigorous gestural expressionism. Still Abstract Expressionism has become the most accepted term for a group of artists who held much in common. All were committed to art as expressions of the self, born out of profound emotion and universal themes, and most were shaped by the legacy of Surrealism, a movement that they translated into a new style fitted to the post-war mood of anxiety and trauma. In their success, these New York painters robbed Paris of its mantle as leader of mod-ern art, and set the stage for America’s dominance of the international art world.- theartstory.org

Alma ThomasSeptember 22, 1891 – February 24, 1978- first African American woman to hold a solo show at the Whitney Museum of Amer-ican Art in New York City in 1972- the first student to graduate with a fine arts degree from Howard University- she didn’t start painting until she was in her 30s

Color Field Painting:1940–1950sAnother form of abstract expressionism, the col-or field painters produced simple compositions made out of large soft-edged areas of color with no obvious focus of attention, with the aim of producing a meditational response in the viewer.- tate.org

Helen FrankenthalerMark RothkoKenneth Noland

Post-painterly abstraction1950s This form of abstraction focused more than ever before on the basic elements of painting: form, color, texture, scale, composition and were ruthless in their rejection of mysticism and of any reference to the external world.- tate.org“favored openness or clarity” as opposed to the dense painterly surfaces of that painting style- wikipedia.org

Clement Greenberg - coined the termEllsworth KellyMorris LouisFrank Stellamany many more

Hard edge painting1960sSeen as a subdivision of post-painterly abstrac-tion this style of hard-edged geometric ab-straction reacted to the more gestural forms of abstract expressionism by only using monochro-matic fields of clean-edged colour which rein-forced the flatness of the picture surface.- tate.org

Frank Stella

MinimalismThis new art of the 1960s favored the cool over the "dra-matic": their sculptures were frequently fabricated from industrial materials and emphasized anonymity over the expressive excess of Abstract Expressionism. Painters and sculptors avoided overt symbolism and emotional con-tent, but instead called attention to the materiality of the works. Minimalists distanced themselves from the Abstract Expressionists by removing suggestions of biography from their art or, indeed, metaphors of any kind. This denial of expression coupled with an interest in making objects that avoided the appearance of fine art led to the creation of sleek, geometric works that purposefully and radically es-chew conventional aesthetic appeal. Minimalists sought to break down traditional notions of sculpture and to erase distinctions between painting and sculpture. In particular, they rejected the formalist dogma espoused by the critic Clement Greenberg that placed limitations on the art of painting and privileged artists who seemed to paint under his direction.- theartstory.org

Hard edge painting(continued)

Karl BenjaminSam Gilliam

Hard edge painting(continued)

Al Loving Jr.Agnes Martin

Op art1960sSeen as a subdivision of post-painterly abstrac-tion this style of hard-edged geometric ab-straction reacted to the more gestural forms of abstract expressionism by only using monochro-matic fields of clean-edged colour which rein-forced the flatness of the picture surface.- tate.org

Bridget Riley

Edna Andrade

Op Art(continued)

Neo Geo1980s / 90s / 00sNeo-minimalism is an amorphous art movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It has alternatively been called “neo-geometric” or “neo-geo” art. Other terms include: Neo-Con-ceptualism, Neo-Futurism, Neo-Op, Neo-Pop, New Abstraction, Poptometry, Post-Abstraction-ism, Simulationism, and Smart Art.

The aspects of “postmodern art” that have been described as neo-minimalism (and related terms) involve a general “reevaluation of earlier art forms.” As its various titles indicate, the move-ment draws on earlier mid-to-late-20th century developments in Minimalist art, Abstract Expres-sionism and its offshoots, plus Pop Art, Op Art, and other threads of artistic development.- wikiart.org

Peter Halley

Sarah Morris

Neo Geo(continued)

Felrath Hines

Neo Geo(continued)

James LittleOdili Donald Odita

Contemporary(continued)

My friend Matt Kleberg

Contemporary

Matt Kleberg(continued)