Minimalism, Media Spectacle, and the Paradox of Excess: Artistic Representations of Carl Andre’s Controversies

Description

Although often celebrated as a pioneer of minimalist art, Carl Andre is equally recognised for the media spectacles surrounding his career. In this paper, I examine the paradox of minimalism at the intersection of cultural excess, focusing on two scandals reimagined in contemporary works: Elisabetta Benassi’s It Starts with the Firing (2017) and Xochitl Gonzalez’s Anita de Monte Laughs Last (2024).
Benassi’s work revisits the scandal surrounding Tate Gallery’s acquisition of Andre’s sculpture Equivalent VIII (1966), exemplifying how minimalism can provoke an excess of media scrutiny. Benassi compiles this cultural overreaction into an artist’s book, transforming newspaper headlines into a commentary on excess in art criticism. In contrast, Gonzalez’s novel engages with the controversy regarding the death of Andre’s wife, artist Ana Mendieta, and his subsequent acquittal in her murder trial. Through the fictionalised character Anita de Monte, the novel portrays Mendieta’s life, work, and untimely death, exploring how the art world tends to disregard women’s voices.
While they draw on distinct events, both Gonzalez’s novel and Benassi’s artist’s book centre on pivotal scandals around Andre’s life and career. Through a comparative visual and literary analysis, I consider the role of artistic and literary portrayals of these controversies in reshaping contemporary perceptions of the art world. Ultimately, I investigate how these representations reflect and comment upon the paradoxical culture of excess around a representative of minimalism like Carl Andre.

Period	30 Jun 2025
Event title	XV Lisbon Summer School for the Study of Culture: The Age of Excess
Event type	Conference
Location	Lisbon, PortugalShow on map