Hang Up 1966

Eva Hesse made "Hang Up" sometime in the mid-sixties. It's a frame, like one for a painting, but it's been softened, almost anthropomorphized, by wrapping it in fabric. I wonder if Hesse felt a need to break out of the rigid confines of painting. Imagine her, working intuitively, letting the materials guide her. There is a weird humor and tragedy at play. The empty rectangle suggests a canvas, but one that's given up, perhaps, or one that suggests the absurdity of boundaries in general. A grey zone. And then there's that limp, protruding wire extending awkwardly into space, like a failed attempt to escape or connect. Hesse’s choice to leave the canvas empty invites us to project our own feelings. This piece makes me think of other artists who, like Hesse, stretched the limits of painting: Lee Bontecou, Yayoi Kusama, or Ree Morton. They all remind me that art is a conversation across time, with artists daring each other to think differently. Hesse’s work embraces the unresolved. It reminds me that it is okay to exist in a state of uncertainty.