Less Than: Art and Reductionism

Overview

More, less, something, nothing: whether they're used to describe the difference between the amount of time you need and the time you have, or what you have to do and what you'd like to do, these words get bandied about with frequency these days. Have you ever wondered how they apply to artists? Is less more? When they're trying to reflect nothing, can they truly create something?

Aaah, minimalism — that's what we're talking about, and it's not a new thing. Less Than: Art and Reductionism tries to condense five decades of thinking into one exhibition. Yep, QUT Art Museum is keeping on trend.

The field of reductionist techniques — think repetition, limited or monochrome colour, geometric abstraction, symbolism and the like — is in the spotlight from March 18 to May 21; however, so is a crucial contrast. "The very nature of art is about creating something new, not reducing to less," points out curator Katherine Dionysius.

Image: Peter ATKINS, Hume Highway Project (detail) 2010, Fifth of twelve colour screenprints, QUT Art Collection, Purchased 2010.