BB #8 1962

Karl Benjamin made BB #8 with flat blocks of moody browns, black, and a few balancing white shapes, and then just this little pop of red. I imagine him, late at night, pushing these shapes around, this one next to that one, does it sing? It reminds me of some of the painters of the New York School, like Ad Reinhardt, with his very dark paintings, or maybe even the color-field paintings of someone like Mark Rothko. But something here feels different, more playful. Look how the colors and shapes almost feel like they’re floating on top of each other, each form carefully placed so it can be felt, considered. How the one little red block can sing out among so many dark forms! He had this gift, Karl Benjamin did, for teasing out harmonies in the act of painting, just like other artists do.