Leeward Traffic 1966

Robert Huot made "Leeward Traffic" using simple shapes and colors, and what gets me is how they play off each other. The black and white aren't just colors, they're like characters, moving and shifting. Looking closely, you can see the canvas texture coming through that pale white paint. It gives the surface a real presence. The black surrounds these squares and rectangles, but it also feels like the white is pushing against it, trying to break free. It reminds me a bit of Ad Reinhardt, who used similar colors to make meditative paintings. But where Reinhardt’s work is smooth, Huot's has this raw, physical quality that I find really compelling. It feels like a dance between control and letting go. For me this is what abstract painting is all about: not defining things, but keeping them open.