ART
By Maximillien de Lafayette
judy
hintz cox: America’s first lady of
progressive minimalism
The first time I had the
opportunity of attending Judy Cox exhibitions was in 1999 in Washington, DC,
USA, while I was still living in the Uncle Sam’s magic land. Judy Cox’s show
took place at a fancy and elegant law firm locale with an impressive hall
receptions and ritzy corridors in the American capital. This was arranged by
her agent Mrs. Ira Pinto, the curator and owner of the fabulous Ira Pinto
Gallery in Washington, District of Columbia, USA which was located cross the
street from the Phillips Collection. So, I stood in a corridor before a triage
of her small paintings displayed in a prominent place. I stood there for
almost twelve minutes gazing at three of her small white paintings. The
simplicity of her work intrigued me for several reasons, and I wanted to make
the acquaintance of the artist. I asked one of the fellows at the office who
appeared to be either an employee of the law firm or one of Ira’s crew
members. I asked the gentleman if Judy Cox was around. Politely he replied
“You just missed her, she just passed by you.” And this she did! She moved
fast, she walked faster and vanished in the fastest possible way. Meeting her?
No dice! Two months later, her agent
Ira invited me once again to an art exhibition gathering a large number of
local and foreign artists.
"DON’T
LIMIT THE IS”, 2002
This time, the show took place in the grand and
majestic foyer/entrance of one of the prestigious and historical buildings of
District of Columbia. As usual, Judith Cox’s work occupied the best wing of
the foyer. This time, Judy Cox did not attend the event. No dice again! Thanks
God, I have never gambled in my life.
The third and final time, my
eyes saw the work of Judy Cox was at Ira Pinto Gallery in Washington, DC, USA.
The paintings were there alright, but not Judy Cox. This mysterious,
fantastic, fast, energetic phantasmagoric woman is no where to be found!
I have been
systematically puzzled by the Minimalism movement. Most certainly, more
intrigued and puzzled by the minimalist artists themselves, for I do believe
that, they form their own particular circle…They belong to themselves in their
perfect sense of simplistic harmony and absolute intellectual nihilism of
forms absence and conceptual visualization. They are frequently labeled and
“libeled” as the most intellectual and ultra-sophisticated artists of the
abstract school of modern art. And, for once, I wanted to point at one them,
freeze the moment and ask “Are there differences of categories in the
simplistico-intellectual style of Minimalism today?” I am not talking about
the New York school but, the universal Minimalism genre! This was one of the
questions I wanted Judy Cox to reply to but, she walked ten times faster than
me and was twenty times more agile in her fast moving and running than my
religiously calculated steps. I missed her! I missed three times!!
Back then, in 1999, Judy Cox’s style was extremely MINIMALISTIC!! Very
avant-garde for the conservative Washingtonians! Very “plain” for the very
traditional and very “ intellectually complicated” for the ordinary folks. If
you scroll back to the top of the page and you take a look at those white
paintings lined up against the walls in her studio, you will get my drift;
simple, clean, polite, uncomplicated white compositions on white… Perhaps
elegant minimal or large marble fragments mysteriously blending into or
magically attached to a framed piece of linen! A simple composition in white,
off white, grayish-white and all sorts of nuances and tones of light grays to
transparent whites! Judy calls that “MINIMALISM”, and I do completely agree
with her!!
AND NOW, look below,
and wonder: Is it the same studio? Judy Cox work? The same Minimalistic Judith
Cox of the “ABOVE”? Believe it or not, this is the work of Judy Cox! Those are
the very paintings of Judith Cox today! So what happened to the Minimalism
concept of yesterday? Yesteryears? The minimalistic Style? The Belief? The
Attachment? The Artistic Loyalty? And what happened to Cox Minimalism genius?
We are going to find out!