Mid Day 1972

Anne Truitt's sculpture, "Mid Day," is this amazing vertical form, standing tall with its red color, and clean geometry. I can imagine Anne, layering paint over and over, building up this crazy, smooth surface. It's so hard to make something this simple, you know? I can see her, agonizing over every coat, trying to get the color just right. A color that sings. What I love about Truitt’s sculptures is how they make you really see color and form, in a pure way. It's like she's saying, "Hey, look at this red. Really look at it." And you do, and it's intense and meditative. It is hard to resist making comparisons with the work of other artists concerned with pure colour, such as Barnett Newman. Artists like Truitt inspire us to slow down, to see the world with fresh eyes, and to appreciate the quiet power of color and form. Painting is an embodied expression which embraces uncertainty, and the possibility of multiple interpretations.