BOOK:Robert Ryman, Phaidon Publications

Though not as well-known as figures such as Frank Stella, Sol LeWitt, or Dan Flavin, Ryman is nonetheless one of the pioneers of Minimalist painting, whose works attempt to empty the painting of content – and color – in order to focus almost entirely on form and process, an idiom in which he has continued to work for some sixty years, long past the demise of Minimalism as a cutting-edge movement. He thus might be termed one of the movement’s most committed adherents. “Robert Ryman” by Phaidon Publications is the only comprehensive monograph on the artist whose abstract ‘white’ paintings have inspired generations. A much-revered figure in the art world, Robert Ryman has, over six decades, continuously and methodically experimented with the different possibilities inherent within a painting – abolishing color in order to focus on material, brushstroke, support, and scale. The book is covering his career to date, places his famous square ‘white’ paintings with lesser-known but increasingly exhibited works, in order to show that he is not a reductionist, but in fact a restless experimenter.-Dimitris Lempesis