Primary Structures

 - Younger American and British Sculptors

Primary Structures: Younger American and British Sculptors

Apr - Jun 1966, Jewish Museum, New York
Curator: Kynaston McShine
During a forum on the "New Sculpture" conducted at the museum Mark di Suvero famously remarked, "Primary Structures is the key show of the 1960s...", and also, "...my friend Donald Judd cannot qualify as an artist because he doesn't do the work", to which Judd replied, "...The point is not whether one makes the work or not... I don't see... why one technique is any more essentially art than another...". This show ushered in a radical new way of presenting ideas and space that did not rely on the artist's hand, but rather on the final result.
McShine, in an effort to broaden appeal and show a wide variety of artists working in this form, included a West Coast contingent and most of the British artists from the New Generation show at the Whitechapel Art Gallery from 1965. It appeared that Primary Structures was to be formulated around Anthony Caro's former St. Martin's students, and the American group led by a relatively established Tony Smith.
All artists on https://www.artist-info.com/exhibition/The-Jewish-Museum-Id327039

Source: https://www.artist-info.com/blog/influential