Mid Day 1972

Anne Truitt made "Mid Day," a painted wood sculpture, and what hits me first is the red. It's so primary, so declarative. You might think, "Oh, it's just a block," but look closer. It's about presence, about being in a space with this object. The surface has this quiet texture, almost like a fabric. The paint isn't trying to be anything but itself. It's not glossy, not matte, just…there. The edges are sharp, but the color softens the geometry somehow. It sits on a black base, grounding the whole thing. Truitt’s like Agnes Martin in a way; both distill things down to their essence. I can’t help but think of Ellsworth Kelly’s colored panels, but where Kelly is about shape, Truitt is about feeling. It's not just a color, it's a mood, a moment, a midday kind of red. Art doesn’t have to shout to be heard. Sometimes, the quietest voices resonate the most.