Craig Kauffman

Born in Los Angeles in 1932^[2], Kauffman studied at UCLA and the University of Southern California. His first solo show at Ferus came in 1958^[2], and early paintings featuring what critic Peter Plagens described as "stem-and-bulb shapes" already pointed toward a biomorphic sensibility. The decisive shift came between 1964 and 1970, when Kauffman began vacuum-forming acrylic plastic sheets into shallow wall reliefs. The results were glossy, symmetrical, and appeared to glow from within, occupying uncertain territory between painting and sculpture.

These works placed Kauffman within the "L.A. Look" and Light and Space movements alongside artists such as Larry Bell and Robert Irwin. Unlike the hard-edged geometry of East Coast Minimalism^[2], his reliefs had a sensuous, almost bodily quality. Art historian Susan Larsen noted their "radiant colour" and "emphasis on certain sensuous physical properties." Donald Judd drew a parallel between Kauffman's approach and his own.

His work entered more than twenty major collections, including MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American^[2] Art, Tate Modern, LACMA, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Key retrospective appearances included "A Minimal Future? Art as Object 1958^[2]-1968^[2]" at MOCA Los Angeles in 2004, and "Time and Place: Los Angeles 1957-1968" at Stockholm's Moderna Museet in 2008.

Kauffman died in Angeles City, Philippines, in May 2010^[2], aged 78.