I spent some time writing this. So since it won’t be published in art on paper, I decided to publish it here.
It is hard for me to estimate the impact of Vija Celmins’ work in any detached way as it figured heavily in the formation of my own work.
I think the first painting I saw was either Heater or Fan (both 1964) at the Oakland Museum of Art in the early nineties, not long after I started painting. What struck me was the straightforwardness and clarity of the image painted, the reduced but controlled use of color, as well as the concise brushwork. From these early works of day-to-day objects, painted from observation, to the later works that employed photographs, her intentions have remained consistent.
Celmins’ singular use of photographic information cannot be categorized with photorealism or Pop Art. Instead of treating photographs as source material, she renders the physicality of the photographs; rather than giving her images a solely photographic quality (as in photorealism), they depict the photographs themselves. Additionally, in the desert, ocean, and star drawings, the vistas are delimited, as are the subjects in photographs, rather than discreet subjects contained within the work of art (as in the Pop Art icon).
It is these qualities that have helped her work avoid easy labeling, and define her as an artist’s artist. Celmins’ art presents an object lesson in maintaining a private artistic vision.