Minimal matters

Minimal art, like the stuff that was hot in the late ’60s through the ’70s, is dangerous territory these days. For one, a lot of it seems dated—mostly because of the colors. Artists couldn’t help but unintentionally lean toward popular colors of the day. Also, anyone working in that milieu today runs the risk of not being taken seriously. Minimal paintings, with their ultra-straightforward compositions and solid, nonrepresentational forms, just beg for the uneducated to exclaim that “anybody could do that.” Spending some time with the work of Peter Stegall, on display this month at JayJay (5520 Elvas Avenue) can change some minds. Stegall’s colors are dazzling and anything but dated, illustrating that although the paintings are simple, the juxtaposition of just the right colors makes all the difference. And, like the great—often appreciated for the wrong reasons—Piet Mondrian, Stegall hand-paints the lines without masking them, letting the viewer know how intimately he is involved with the work. The stunning results validate the troubled genre.