Tag: minimalism

Now Showing in ‘Celebration’ at Octavia Art Gallery in New Orleans

February 4th, 2017 | No Comments

grant wiggins in celebration at octavia art gallery new orleans
I will be showing four minimal, hard-edge paintings in Celebration at Octavia Art Gallery in New Orleans, February 4 – 25, 2017.


I am thrilled to announce that I will be showing at Octavia Art Gallery in New Orleans throughout February, in the group exhibition Celebration.

Four of my minimalist, hard-edge studies will be on display in Celebration, which Octavia Art Gallery describes as “an exhibition that reflects the joie de vivre during the Mardi Gras season, concentrating on the celebration of life through art.”

Fellow artists showing in Celebration are Muffin Bernstein, Sara Carter, Marina Dunbar, Shirine Gill, Diana Greenberg, Betsey Gravatt, Ken Nahan, Tom Nussbaum, Max Ryan, and Sam Schonzeitz.

grant wiggins in celebration at octavia art gallery new orleansAn installation view of Celebration at Octavia Art Gallery in New Orleans.


As artists, not only do we have Celebration in common, but we also have collaborated with Octavia Art Gallery recently to create artworks for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, with locations in New York and New Jersey.

As art curators for these spaces, Octavia Art Gallery has sought to provide “soothing and healing environments for patients and administrators.”

“Our approach is to provide artworks that have an inspirational effect on the well-being of others,” the gallery explains. “Research concludes that art can change an individual’s physiology and have a calming and therapeutic influence. Through a careful selection of artworks and commissioned pieces, the gallery focuses on works that transcend the viewer.”

Last autumn, I produced a series of colorful minimalist paintings for Memorial Sloan Kettering’s corporate offices in New York City. I was encouraged to work in bright and cheerful colorways, in an effort to convey positivity and contribute to an uplifting and inspiring environment.

It has been an absolute pleasure and honor to work with Octavia Art Gallery Director Kristina Larson over the past few months. Repeatedly I have been impressed by Kristina’s professionalism and positive attitude throughout our creative collaborations.

Thanks to Octavia Art Gallery, you’ll also be able to find my work listed on Artsy.net and 1stdibs.com.

Octavia Art Gallery is located at 454 Julia Street, in New Orleans. Learn more at octaviaartgallery.com.


Women’s Fashions in My Fall/Winter 2015 Collaboration with Jil Sander

September 30th, 2015 | No Comments

With the debut of the Jil Sander fall/winter 2015 collection for men, my paintings’ motifs have made their transformation from stretched canvas to wearable art. I could not be more excited!

The Jil Sander design team, led by creative director Rodolfo Paglialunga, has brilliantly reimagined my work for pieces in their sportswear and casual range.

I’m therefore exceedingly proud to report that the central motif of my Ocxiom series has been selected by the Jil Sander design team for the men’s sportswear and casual line, and also its fall/winter 2015 collection for women.

jil sander womens fashions fall/winter 2015The central motif of my Ocxiom series of paintings (Ocxiom 2 at bottom right) has been reimagined by Jil Sander in women’s fashions for fall/winter 2015.


Ocxiom makes its energetic mark this fall in both a navy-and-crimson pullover for women and an A-line skirt. The pullover is a counterpart to a monochromatic men’s sweater. The skirt, meanwhile, alludes to the “ground,” or negative space, of its corollary on canvas.

Both garments are now available at MyTheresa.com, part of the Neiman Marcus Group. The luxury retailer describes the pullover as having “a graphic look that’s brimming with modern flair.” The wool-blend skirt, MyTheresa observes, “features a graphic, geometric pattern that’s impossible to resist.”

The colors, textures, combinations, cuts, and contours of fashion have long played a huge part in my aesthetic imaginings. It’s therefore thrilling to have this opportunity to collaborate with Jil Sander and to contribute to creating a wave of energizing, modern, and ready-to-wear looks for fall.

Shop Jil Sander’s complete collection of modern looks for fall at store.jilsander.com.


‘The New Minimalism’: The Latest in My Collaboration with Jil Sander

September 19th, 2015 | No Comments

Through the debut of the Jil Sander fall/winter 2015 collection for men, my paintings have made a stylish transition from stretched canvas to ready-to-wear art. Every day, it seems, new examples of my collaboration with the Milan fashion house are surfacing online.

The experience of watching the collection unfold has been, to put it mildly, utterly thrilling.

Some of the newest examples of our art-meets-fashion partnership are now available online at Farfetch.com. The boutique O’, of Parma, Italy, is offering a series of Jil Sander T-shirts and sweatshirts that reimagine my 2011 painting For Never, an Ever, shown below.

New minimalism: Jil Sander Menswear Collaboration with Grant Wiggins for Fall/Winter 2015
New minimalism: Jil Sander Menswear Collaboration with Grant Wiggins for Fall/Winter 2015
Several new pieces in Jil Sander’s Fall/Winter 2015 menswear collection work with the cetral motif of my minimalist painting For Never, an Ever, top right. Images courtesy of farfetch.com.


I absolutely love all of these pieces. Without question, my creative partners at Jil Sander have stayed true to the spirit of my work.

In particular, what catches my attention is the green T-shirt with fluorescent pink stripes. I love color. The bolder, the better. Since my earliest minimal works, going back to my 2003 painting Tyotk Mölxx, I have found ways to incorporate fluorescent paint into my most reductive compositions.

Despite popular opinion, minimal does not need to mean monochromatic.

Jil Sander Creative Director Rodolfo Paglialunga shares this perspective. In a recent interview with MatchesFashion.com, he opines that minimalism “is not only about exclusively using black and white; it can be bright and luxuriant, it can be sexier than we think and, of course, it depends on the person who wears it.”

Jil Sander Menswear Collaboration with Grant Wiggins for Fall/Winter 2015
I love this shirt. It epitomizes “The New Minimalism.” There’s clarity, with room for personality. Find it at store.jilsander.com.


Since his appointment as Jil Sander’s creative lead in April 2014, Paglialunga has sought to honor his fashion house’s rich heritage of minimal cool. At the same time, he’s ushering it forward, toward future possibilities. The Jil Sander of now is still minimal, but in tune with the realities of our time.

“I want to evolve the brand with some kind of revolution,” Paglialunga asserts. “‘New minimalism’ is the key phrase for a perfect combination between a glorious past and an innovative and smarter future.”

Perhaps the revolution is already underway. It’s the perfect moment to recast minimalism in new light. Let’s make that a big, bright, bold fluorescent light — one that illuminates a clear path forward toward modernity, but affords room for color and personality.

Just as notions of minimalist fashion have been tied for too long to the 1990s, discussion of minimalist art has been for too long associated with what was made in the 1960s. The past is important, but let’s stay in the moment, with an eye on what’s ahead.

Long live the revolution — the “New Minimalism” revolution!


New Minimal Paintings: The ‘Voyedge’ Series

September 8th, 2015 | 1 Comment »

New Minimal Paintings: The 'Voyedge' Series
Three studies for my Voyedge series of minimal paintings.


My most recent artistic voyage has been my Voyedge collection of new minimal paintings. This series is very hard-edge in spirit, and is in many ways a descendant of my ‘Confluent series of paintings, from January of this year.

Thus far the Voyedge series encompasses five small studies and two larger minimal paintings. Down the road, I’d like to continue to explore different colorways with this series — particularly combinations involving fluorescent colors.

New Minimal Paintings: The 'Voyedge' Series by Grant Wiggins
Voyedge 1. 2015. Acrylic on canvas. 40 inches square (102 x 102 cm).


With the Voyedge series, my commitment to hard-edge, minimal painting remains clear. This is a way of making art that has felt like second-nature to me for many years.

New Minimal Paintings: The 'Voyedge' Series by Grant Wiggins
Voyedge 2. 2015. Acrylic on canvas. 40 inches square (102 x 102 cm).


If one tendency, or evolutionary theme, emerging in this side of my work, I would say that it is becoming more angular — increasingly characterized by right angles.

There is something about the square, and the straight line in general, that is completely modern to me. The square is the progenitor of the pixel, the essential building block of digital culture. Expressing the same design in straight lines, as opposed to curves, somehow yields a more contemporary expression.

New Minimal Paintings: The 'Voyedge' Series by Grant Wiggins
Voyedge 3 (‘Darkhorse’). 2015. Acrylic on canvas. 40 inches square (102 x 102 cm).


I realize that minimal painting is not for everyone. These sparing compositions, as a rule, have clean lines. They are nonobjective in nature; there are no mountains, or flowers, or portraits to relate to. As such, these paintings resist narrative.

Perhaps this is what I find so enjoyable about minimal painting: The making of something new, materializing an otherness not found in the everyday world that surrounds us.

New Minimal Paintings: The 'Voyedge' Series by Grant Wiggins
Voyedge studies, from left: Voyedge 2 (Study); acrylic on canvas; 10 inches square (25.4 x 25.4 cm). Voyedge 3 (‘Darkhorse’ Study); acrylic on panel-mounted canvas; 10 inches square (25.4 x 25.4 cm).


The Voyedge collection continues to evolve. I look forward to sharing more pieces with you soon.


Three Paintings Selected for Arizona Biennial 2015 at Tucson Museum of Art

June 25th, 2015 | No Comments

I am absolutely thrilled and honored to announce that three of my paintings have been selected to exhibit in Arizona Biennial 2015, to be held at the Tucson Museum of Art from July 25 through October 11.

This will be my fifth time showing in an Arizona Biennial — and my seventh show overall at the Tucson Museum of Art — since 2003. I exhibited consecutively in the 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009 biennials. After six years away, my upcoming return to Tucson is especially meaningful.

Nearly 1,500 works were submitted to Arizona Biennial 2015. Juror Irene Hofmann, director and chief curator of SITE Santa Fe, selected 50 works by 33 artists. A range of mediums will be represented, including painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, video, and installation art.

The three pieces selected for this summer’s biennial, shown below, reflect my maximalist and minimalist approaches to painting.

arizona biennial 2015

A New Way of Thinking About Everything. 2014. Acrylic on canvas. 24 x 28 inches (61 x 71 cm).

arizona biennial 2015

The Lake a Lilac Cube. 2014. Acrylic on canvas. 40 inches square (102 x 102 cm).

arizona biennial 2015

Confluent. 2015. Acrylic on canvas. 40 inches square (102 x 102 cm).


First organized in 1948, the Arizona Biennial is a juried exhibition that provides an opportunity to see some of the most interesting new work being created in Arizona. It is the oldest running juried exhibition featuring exclusively Arizona artists. The Arizona Biennial is open to artists age 18 and older who currently reside in Arizona.

“This Arizona Biennial represents ambitious and thought-provoking ideas as well as works that captivate the senses,” observes Dr. Julie Sasse, chief curator and curator of modern and contemporary art at Tucson Museum of Art. “It shows that contemporary art in Arizona is fully competitive with the rest of the country in formal concerns while addressing the specific qualities of place and culture that make this state so unique.”

In closing, I offer my most sincere congratulations to my fellow Arizona Biennial 2015 artists: David Emitt Adams, Elizabeth Burden, Carlton Bradford, Curt Brill, John H. Clarke, Jeffrey J. DaCosta, Jeff Dodson, Abigail Felber, Denis Gillingwater, Jennifer Holt, Alan Bur Johnson, Daniel Johnson, Carolina Maki Kitagawa, Carolyn Lavender, Ellen McMahon and Beth Weinstein, Brooke Molla, Katherine Monaghan, Anthony Pessler, Emmett Potter, Rembrandt Quiballo, Robert Renfrow, Prima Sakuntabhai, Patricia Sannit, Steven R. Schaeffer, Mike Stack, Lauren Strohacker and Kendra Sollars, Novie Trump, Zachary Valent, Kathleen Velo, and Angie Zielinski.


New hard-edge paintings: The ‘Confluent’ series

February 21st, 2015 | No Comments

I’m pleased to introduce this new pair of studies, part of a series I’ve assigned the working title Confluent.

Each is painted on a cradled panel measuring 10 inches square by 1.5 inches deep (25 x 25 x 4 cm).

hard-edge painting
hard-edge painting
hard-edge painting
hard-edge painting
New hard-edge paintings: Confluent #1 in white, and Confluent #2 in navy-black.


I’ve had hard-edge painting on my mind quite a bit lately, as I’ve begun to re-examine minimal painting. I’ve been thinking about how Frederick Hammersley had two different styles of painting: his hard-edge pieces and his organic “hunches.” As I have veered between minimalism and maximalism in my own work, I can appreciate how Hammersley explored these two very different, very personal approaches to painting throughout his life — one very rational and formal, another very subjective and intuitive. When one approach went stale, he returned to the other.

Right now, I’m pursuing a more rational and formal approach in my work. While I’m starting from familiar ground, it seems like I’m going somewhere new. I will certainly share my newest discoveries with you soon.

Grant Wiggins


A Return to Minimal Painting

February 12th, 2015 | No Comments

Over the past two months I have shifted my focus back to minimal painting, with new focus, commitment, and energy.

I embarked upon a new series, titled Reciprocal, in December. Thus far, I have produced six paintings. Below are the three larger works.

minimal painting
minimal painting
minimal painting
Minimal paintings Reciprocal 1, 2, and 3. December 2014 – January 2015. Each measures 40 inches square (102 cm square) and is acrylic on canvas.


Why return to minimal paintings? Essentially, I felt like I had unfinished business to address.

I had made sketches for minimal paintings over the past couple of years, but I was merely filing them away. As those sketches formed a growing pile, making geometric, pattern-oriented paintings — what I call maximalism — excited me more.

Ultimately, I hit a wall with maximalism last September. I was beginning to see pattern-on-pattern artwork and design everywhere. I felt as if I had nothing to add to the conversation. Lacking direction for nearly three months, I painted nothing.

In early December, I turned a corner. Emboldened by interest in my minimal work from a major fashion design house, I carefully revisited that pile of unpainted minimal sketches. I began to see the sketches in a new way, and realized that they deserved to have a life in physical reality, not simply in pixels.

In 2007 and 2008, I had a remarkably prolific outpouring of minimal works, of nearly three dozen paintings. Most were smaller — each about 10 inches square, painted on panel. Looking back on that era, I realized how much flexibility those smaller works afforded me.

As a part of a new way of working, I am placing greater emphasis on smaller works, viewing them now as studies. For example, below is a trio of studies for Reciprocal 3, made on wood panels.

minimal painting
minimal painting
minimal painting
minimal painting
Three studies for minimal painting Reciprocal 3. December 2014 – January 2015. Each measures 10 inches square by 1.5 inches deep (25 x 25 x 4 cm) and are acrylic on panel-mounted canvas.


Considering the dimensions of these cradled panels — 10 inches square by 1.5 inches deep (25 x 25 x 4 cm) — I’m forced to pay attention to how the compositions will travel onto the sides of the panels. These pieces seem to be more sculptural in nature, as a result. A 40-inch-square (102 cm) canvas would need 6-inch-deep (15 cm)sides to achieve the same effect.

What I have learned from these six paintings, produced throughout December and January, is that minimal work is not just about design and composition. It’s also about mindset. I have found that my thinking has calmed somewhat. I feel more appreciation for subtlety, and I find myself “listening” to the negative space in each composition.

Perhaps this sense of calm and focus is why I have returned to minimal painting. I feel a new freedom to explore space. My mind is remaining quiet and receptive, carefully listening for combinations of line and color that excite me.

I’m not forcing paintings to happen, and it feels wonderful.

Grant Wiggins


Collaboration with Jil Sander on fall / winter 2015 men’s collection

January 30th, 2015 | No Comments

I recently had the profound pleasure of traveling to Milan as a guest of luxury fashion house Jil Sander, to view its Fall / Winter 2015 men’s collection — from a front-row seat.

Graphic motifs from several of my minimal paintings will have a presence in the sportswear and casual range of Jil Sander’s fall collection for men, which will be available in some of the world’s finest stores starting in September.

What’s more, invitations to the runway show featured a reimagined version of my minimal, 70s-inspired painting Blactan.

Blactan by Grant Wiggins with invitations to the runway presentation of Jil Sander's fall 2015 men's collection
Above: The study for my 2007 painting Blactan among invitations to the runway show for Jil Sander’s Fall / Winter 2015 men’s runway show, held January 17, 2015, as a part of Milan Men’s Fashion Week.


I was contacted by Jil Sander in December, out of the blue, to my great surprise. Quite simply, the brand’s design team had found my work online, and wished to license selections from my catalogue.

Naturally, I didn’t say no.

All the same, I have said “thank you” to the Internet a few times.

Nearly 6,000 miles (9400 km) separate my studio in Tempe, Arizona and Milan. Traveling between the two points takes nearly one full day.

But it’s particularly fascinating to me that, despite this distance, my work might resonate with, and possibly inspire, a highly accomplished designer and his team — one that’s virtually on the other side of the world from where I paint.

The world is even smaller than I once imagined.

I have long believed that my paintings could have a parallel life in fashion. Friends and family have asked me this repeatedly, “Why don’t you make clothes? Your paintings would look fantastic on shirts!” However, I never imagined that a global luxury brand like Jil Sander would get the process started before me.

Led by creative director Rodolfo Paglialunga, Jil Sander’s fall/winter 2015 runway collection for men was impeccably presented. I was immensely impressed by the overcoats, which balanced angularity and structure with luxuriousness and comfort. I can also appreciate how the collection’s palette was accented by punches of bold hues, such as vivid red-orange, which blazed down the runway more than once.

It was a thrill to have the opportunity to meet Jil Sander staff in person. The fashion house has been perfectly generous with me.

Once images of garments featuring my work become available, I will certainly share them with you in this space. There’s more to come this fall.

No excuses — there’s plenty of time to set aside some of your wardrobe budget for a Jil Sander / Grant Wiggins sweater!

Until next time, ciao ciaoooo!

— Grant Wiggins


New Paintings: 200th Painting Added to Online Portfolio

July 11th, 2013 | No Comments

Over the course of his lifetime, Pablo Picasso made nearly 2,000 paintings — and approximately 48,000 other works — according to one estimate. Picasso was so prolific, we still don’t know for sure the total number of paintings, sculptures, sketches, prints, and other works he produced during his lifetime. The numbers keep changing, as undocumented works keep reaching the market, keeping authenticators busy.

Picasso’s lifelong relentlessness and tenacity for making new work has been on my mind a lot lately, as I recently achieved an important milestone of my own. The Paintings gallery of this site just reached the 200-painting mark, after I created pages for 13 more works.

Overall, I estimate that I have produced perhaps 250 paintings since I started in December 1994. Several paintings still need to be added to my site. And many don’t quite make the cut, unfortunately!

Regardless, the paintings I recently added — introduced below — span the Minimalism and Maximalism (Abstract) galleries of this site (what those terms mean is another blog post for another time), and have been produced 2010 onward.

Minimalism and Pattern Paintings

Maximalism Gallery

As I sit back and take a deep breath, all I can do is look forward to making another 200 paintings. Maybe one day I’ll reach the 2,000-painting milestone, like Picasso. But then again, Picasso didn’t have a web site to manage … and the glorious distraction of social media!


‘Beyond Minimalism’ Art Exhibition

April 6th, 2013 | No Comments

There’s plenty of time to see the Beyond Minimalism art exhibition I’m a part of at Hudson|LINC Gallery. The show will be on view through Friday, May 3.

Opening night, held March 19, was well attended. Los Angeles artist and designer Sacha Baumann in a very nicely done blog post describes Beyond Minimalism as “really good — bright, playful, tactile,” and offers several interesting glimpses of my paintings on opening night.

Below are photos of my work in Beyond Minimalism:

beyond minimalism art exhibition beyond minimalism art exhibition

From left to right, the paintings are:

Hudson|LINC is open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment. The gallery is located on the second floor of the Pacific Design Center’s Blue Building. More at hudsonlinc.com.