Living the Inner Life: a newfound appreciation for Agnes Martin
Agnes Martin at her house near Cuba, New Mexico, in 1974. Photograph by Gianfranco Gorgon. The Guardian, 2015.
As we wrap up our Devoted: Queer Love and Other Offerings exhibition, I wanted to write about Agnes Martin. A name I have heard frequently over the years, knowing she was legendary in the art canon for her minimalist grids. Yet her work never truly resonated with me. Until I learned more about her.
This is the beauty of art. There are so many angles and perspectives from which one can view a piece. Understanding the meaning behind something, or the story of the artist, can provide new insight into the work. For this reason, I find it interesting that some galleries choose to omit these details, instead allowing the work to stand on its own. Not wrong. Simply a choice.
Agnes Martin is most known for her grid and line drawings. Horizontal and vertical lines meticulously drawn with a ruler and pencil. Her paintings, which came later, were equally controlled and organized. To me, before understanding the basis for this style, the work felt mundane and repetitive.
The artist was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in her forties. A condition that was only revealed after her death, yet it provides an explanation for her controlled artistic designs. Using her grids as a meditative shield, Martin found a way to have control within her life in contrast to her diagnosis. She chose to live and paint in a manner that allowed her to separate from her suffering.
Understanding this provided me with a different perspective of her work. A newfound appreciation of her tenacity and the autonomy she gained as an artist. Additionally, Martin continued to work through her 80s, up until a few months before her death at the age of 92. She sporadically took long breaks from her artmaking, both due to her mental health and having an overwhelming sense of responsibility. It would not be until Martin was 62 years old that she found a rhythm in subtle bands that mimicked the New Mexico horizon, where she moved after years of living in New York City.
There is so much complexity to an individual. Perhaps even more so for an artist who is allowing themselves to be vulnerable. And I believe it takes bravery and vulnerability to put one’s work into the world. I recently had an opportunity to see Martin’s work, and understanding her journey gave me pause in front of each piece as I took in the carefully drawn-out grids that provided a visually meditative experience.
So the next time you see art, perhaps art that you are not drawn to, do better than me. Before dismissing an artist or artwork as mundane or simple, unlikable, try to understand the genesis of the idea. You still don’t have to like it, but perhaps you will come to appreciate the effort and the journey of the creator.
“I’d like to talk about the perfection underlying lifewhen the mind is covered over with perfectionand the heart is filled with delight.but I wish not to deny the rest.In our minds, there is awareness of perfection;when we look with our eyes we see it..”
Tamara White is the founder of Bader + Simon. She is expanding her horizons and is learning to appreciate the mundane, quiet moments that life presents her with.
