S-60-69 1969

Nassos Daphnis made this painting, S-60-69, sometime in the nineteen-sixties. It’s all clean lines, hard edges, and flat colours, and it has a weirdly optimistic palette of yellow, red, black, white and navy. I imagine Daphnis experimenting in his studio, pushing forms and colours around, trying to find just the right balance. He’s working within self-imposed constraints, with the goal of seeing how much he can achieve with minimal means. I’m really drawn to the precision and clarity, though; it reminds me a little of the Bauhaus, of Josef Albers’ colour theory, and even of Bridget Riley’s Op Art. Artists are always in conversation with each other, building on what came before while also pushing in new directions, and it’s exciting to see how this plays out across different movements and styles. Ultimately, this piece feels like a playful exploration of form and colour that invites us to see the world in a new way.