BB #8 1962

Karl Benjamin made this painting, BB #8, with what looks like oil on canvas, and it’s all about the push and pull of shapes and colors. There's a real emphasis on the materiality here; Benjamin lays down these shapes with a confident hand, thick opaque blacks stacked and layered, some with beveled edges. The process is clear and unpretentious; it feels like he really wants to show us how the painting was made. And then, BAM! A little jolt of red, like a tiny jewel nestled amongst all this dark and heavy geometry. It’s that dash of red that really grabs me, because it suddenly activates all the other colors. Benjamin reminds me of artists like Josef Albers, with this similar approach to color and form. It's a testament to art's endless conversation, where artists explore and riff off each other's ideas, creating new languages and new ways of seeing.