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Artists using boxes

A box can be used to store things, to transport things, to keep things safe or to present things.
It can be any size, any shape, functional or decorative - or both.

Designers and craftsmen create beautiful boxes to store precious things such as jewellery or (in the past) relics. Many artists have used the idea of the box as a place to store things in a symbolic way, creating boxes where they place objects relating to their past and their memories.

A closed box is mysterious - a place of hidden secrets. It might contain something precious or something dangerous. Lucas Samaras has used this quality of boxes to hide unexpected objects that shock or repel if opened.

Boxes can also be used as a way of displaying things. Some artists use boxes as display cases to present a series of objects which, when placed together reflect a particular theme or meaning. Often these boxes look like specimen cases and give the work a scientific quality.

Boxes have also been used by artists in their simplest form. Warhol referenced modern culture by creating exact replicas of everyday cardboard boxes. Minimalist artists use a box’s simple structure to address qualities of form, space, material and surface. Their use of the simple box structure can also be seen to explore themes such as truth (because it does not pretend to be anything other than what it is), order, simplicity and harmony.