Notes toward a Conditional Art

Robert Irwin began his career in the 1950s as an abstract painter. As a pioneer of the Light and Space movement in Los Angeles in the 1970s and early 80s, Irwin focused on exploring aesthetic perception as the fundamental feature of art, culminating in what he terms “conditional art” or “site-conditioned work.”  

Robert Irwin’s work is held in public and private collections worldwide, but he is perhaps best known for his Central Garden at the Getty Center. In 1984, he became one of the first visual artists to receive the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Genius award. Matthew Simms is associate professor of art history at California State University, Long Beach.