Eletrobras [Rio] 2013

Sarah Morris made this painting, Eletrobras [Rio], with enamel on canvas, and it's all about clean lines and vibrant color blocks. Right away, you notice how the shapes interact. It’s like she’s laid down these crisp boundaries, and then filled them in with a palette that feels both retro and futuristic. Looking closer, you get a sense of the slickness of the enamel, that industrial, smooth surface that reflects light in a very specific way. There’s no visible brushwork, which makes it feel less about the artist’s hand and more about the design itself. See that thin, burnt-orange line that outlines each shape? It's so precise, holding everything together while creating a subtle vibration against the other colors. That one little orange line is doing so much work. Morris's work reminds me a bit of Bridget Riley's Op Art, but with a cooler, more architectural edge. Both artists play with perception, but Morris brings in this element of corporate identity and urban planning, turning the canvas into a kind of playful, yet critical, map. It's a space where geometry meets emotion, and where seeing becomes an active, thinking process.