Donald Judd’s Horizontal Wall Works

A selection of Judd’s horizontal wall works were on view in Chinati’s special exhibition gallery in 2016–2017. Commonly referred to as “progressions” because of the mathematics that inform the sequence of box-shaped elements and their intervals that support the full length of a 21-foot-long horizontal tube, Judd first introduced this form in 1963 as a hand-made prototype of painted wood and metal. Each subsequent work is unique and was fabricated by Bernstein Brothers of New York.

Chinati’s collection includes thirteen such works (all untitled, 1979–1980), made from a variety of combinations of red and blue anodized aluminum joined with galvanized iron, polished brass, or copper. Nine works from this series were on view.

These works were one of two groups of large-scale interior works by Donald Judd whose exhibition coincided with Chinati Weekend, October 7–9, 2016.  Both the horizontal wall works and freestanding floor pieces are drawn from the museum’s permanent collection. The two groups of work were on view until summer 2017.