Speaking of Abstraction: A Universal Language

Speaking of Abstraction: A Universal Language

48 mins | Documentary | Jan. 1, 1999

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, abstraction - that most quintessentially modernist innovation - maintains a peculiarly contradictory position. Used, on one hand, by post-modernist artists as just one more quotable style amongst many, it is on the other hand still considered an elitist or hermetic language by audiences intimidated by its lack of recognizable subject matter. Yet ultimately, abstraction continues to be a viable creative path for contemporary artists of all generations, many of whom embrace it as the most inclusive and fundamentally resonant of artistic languages. Filmed at the artists' studios, the Dia Center for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Museum during their exhibition, "Abstraction in the Twentieth Century."

Speaking of Abstraction: A Universal Language

48 mins | Documentary | Jan. 1, 1999

Speaking of Abstraction: A Universal Language
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, abstraction - that most quintessentially modernist innovation - maintains a peculiarly contradictory position. Used, on one hand, by post-modernist artists as just one more quotable style amongst many, it is on the other hand still considered an elitist or hermetic language by audiences intimidated by its lack of recognizable subject matter. Yet ultimately, abstraction continues to be a viable creative path for contemporary artists of all generations, many of whom embrace it as the most inclusive and fundamentally resonant of artistic languages. Filmed at the artists' studios, the Dia Center for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Museum during their exhibition, "Abstraction in the Twentieth Century."
Producers Michael Blackwood Productions
Original title Speaking of Abstraction: A Universal Language
Directors Julie Sloane, Michael Blackwood
Writers Sasha Newman

Cast

Helmut Federle

as Himself

Günther Förg

as Himself

Jonathan Lasker

as Himself

Robert Mangold

as Himself

Brice Marden

as Himself

Gerhard Richter

as Himself

Richard Serra

as Himself

Philip Taaffe

as Himself

Günter Umberg

as Himself