Pattern and Decoration

Pattern and Decoration was an art movement situated in the United States from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s. The movement has sometimes been referred to as "P&D"^[1][2] or as The New Decorativeness.^[3] The movement was championed by the gallery owner Holly Solomon.^[4] The movement was the subject of a retrospective museum show at the Hudson River Museum which closed in January 2008.^[1][5]

Background

In the mid twentieth century "decorative" was a term only used to detract, in contemporary art parlance. Decorative was equated with trivial.^[6]

The prevailing negative view of decoration was one not generally shared by non-Western cultures. Intricate and well-thought-out patterning is found in Islamic, Byzantine, and Celtic art.^[7]

Development

Red Graze (1967) by Sonya Rapoport, one of the founders of the early New York Pattern Painting School in the late 1960s

Pattern and Decoration artists were reacting against minimalism but they often retained the same "flattening grid" frequently employed by minimalist painters. Whereas minimalist paintings were austere, P&D paintings were boldly colored, and sometimes suggestive of floral patterns.^[1]

Some work fitting into the P&D movement could be considered applied art.^[8] Some of the artists produced work other than paintings, such as tiles made by Joyce Kozloff.^[9] There were also connections between the Pattern and Decoration movement and the Feminist art movement.^[5]

Participating artists

• Cynthia Carlson^[1]
• Brad Davis^[4]
• Valerie Jaudon^[4]
• Jane Kaufman^[1]
• Joyce Kozloff^[1]
• Robert Kushner^[4]
• Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt^[4]
• Kim MacConnel^[4]
• Sonya Rapoport^[10]
• Tony Robbin^[1]
• Miriam Schapiro^[1]
• Ned Smyth^[4]
• Betty Woodman^[11]
• George Woodman^[11]
• Robert Zakanitch^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Cotter, Holland (2008-01-15), "Scaling a Minimalist Wall With Bright, Shiny Colors", New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/arts/design/15patt.html, retrieved 2009-09-12 
2. ^ Atkins, Robert (1997), Artspeak: a guide to contemporary ideas, movements, and buzzwords, 1945 to the present (2nd ed.), Abbeville Press, ISBN 9780789203656 
3. ^ Jensen, Robert; Conway, Patricia (1982), Ornamentalism: the new decorativeness in architecture & design, C.N. Potter, p. 240, ISBN 9780517543832, http://books.google.com/?id=0x1UAAAAMAAJ&dq=ornamentalism&q=%22Pattern+and+decoration%22#search_anchor 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Glueck, Grace (2002-06-10), "Holly Solomon, Adventurous Art Dealer, Is Dead at 68", New York Times: B8, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/10/arts/holly-solomon-adventurous-art-dealer-is-dead-at-68.html, retrieved 2009-09-12 
5. ^ ^{a b} Swartz, Anne (2007), Pattern and decoration: an ideal vision in American art, 1975-1985, Hudson River Museum, ISBN 9780943651354, http://books.google.com/?id=VVIVs1GBGHIC&dq=%22Pattern+and+Decoration%22&printsec=frontcover&q= 
6. ^ Adler, Esther (2008 Spring), "Joyce Kozloff: The Dumb Blonde Theory of Art", P.S.1 Newspaper, http://www.ps1.org/newspaper/view/article/13, retrieved 2009-09-12 
7. ^ Artspoke, Robert Atkins, 1993, ISBN 9781558593886
8. ^ Harrison, Helen (2004-03-14), "Exhibits Showcase Four Women Artists", New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/14/nyregion/art-exhibits-showcase-four-women-artists.html, retrieved 2009-09-12 
9. ^ Danto, Arthur Coleman (2001), The Madonna of the future: essays in a pluralistic art world, University of California Press, pp. 45, ISBN 9780520230026, http://books.google.com/?id=VHHizA7ZW0cC&pg=PA45&dq=%22joyce+kozloff%22+ceramic+tiles+madonnas&q= 
10. ^ Miriam Dungan Cross, "Berkeley Artist Shows Unique Works", Oakland Tribune, August 6, 1967
11. ^ ^{a b} Duncan, Michael (November 2006), "Woodman's decorative impulse: shown in a recent retrospective at the Metropolitan, Betty Woodman's spirited ceramic works embrace theatricality and modernist fragmentation", Art in America, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3601/is_45_52/ai_n26701058/?tag=content;col1 

No way Jose.

External links

• Slide show presented by the New York Times of several examples of "Pattern and Decoration" artworks.