Paul Minotto

Not Nothing, But a Replica of Nothing, 1995

Paul Minotto (American), Not Nothing, But a Replica of Nothing, 1995, mixed media on canvas, 72 x 60 in. Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School, 1999.24.

"By commenting on every aspect of our society from capitalism and its nonsense consumption to the numbness of people's consciousness, Minotto revives the origin of the Dada concept. The compositions illustrate the process of a thought, unpolished, straightforward like someone who talks before thinking. It is no suprise to learn that Minotto studied musical composition for three years. Minotto's paintings incorporate collages, pencil drawings, and sometimes gouache, which seem to compete with each other in a race to the final idea. His large canvases are meant to be hilarious about something dead serious and vice versa." —Donald Kuspit, critic