04.03.13 2013

This symmetrical painting by Andrzej Nowacki from 2013 is a real optical banger, isn't it? I can imagine Nowacki, brush in hand, carefully laying down each of those lines, a meditation in repetition and variation. What might he have been thinking as he made this? The lines seem to shimmer and vibrate. It’s not just about the purple hues, or even the contrasting orange – it’s about how they play together. There’s a feeling, like a visual echo, and the symmetry gives it a hypnotic pull, drawing you in, line by line. It reminds me of Bridget Riley's Op Art, but with a softer, more organic feel, probably because of that central green 'void'. Like art is in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time. Painting is such an embodied expression, right? It embraces ambiguity, allowing for all sorts of interpretations.