Throughout his career Mel Bochner has questioned conventional art practices. After his studies at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, in Pittsburgh (BFA, 1962) he moved to New York City and, like many other artists from the 1970s such as Eva Hesse and Bruce Nauman, worked to create an individual statement through various modes of expression. His works range from installations and conceptual art, which he describes as rigorous intellectual works, to drawings, prints, and paintings that combine analytical and formal interests. Although labeled alternately as a Conceptual artist, Minimalist, Post-Minimalist, and even ‘Neo-Abstract Expressionist’ his works are always deeply theoretical and defy categorization.

The flat pure colors and precise arrangement of three shapes—pentagon, triangle, and square—in The Three, a drawing from 1974, displays a visual similarity to Minimalism.  Bochner’s intention, however, is to express an intellectual exploration of numbers and geometry through a balanced formal arrangement.

From 1983, Bochner explored his ideas about shape and number by means of irregular-shaped paintings. Glacier from 1983 demonstrates a shift from the precise geometric arrangements of the 1970s drawings to a dynamic expression of shapes and colors. The painting juxtaposes precise linearity and geometry with raw emotion represented by color and spontaneous brushstrokes. Bochner painted on a large canvas pasted to the wall and cropped the work only after he developed the painting. Hence the painting process determines the irregular-shaped canvas and underscores the unique process of creation. Although his manner of painting results in paint drips, smears, and layers that create a textured surface, Bochner’s insists on a rigorous drawing style which aims to display his thought process. In the artist’s words, paintings such as Glacier “make the emotion as visible as the thought.”