Gitter-Rotor 1967

Heinz Mack made this artwork, Gitter-Rotor, with black and white lines set against a reflective surface. The painting seems to have materialized through repetition, line by line. You can imagine the artist, almost meditative, drawing each individual line... I wonder if Mack felt a little trapped when making this painting, or if the grid was a means of setting himself free. Maybe he found something interesting in the sheer effort it took. You see a structure and you think you know it, but the lines dance and shift, creating something that is always moving. It is very hypnotic! The reflections in the piece also add another layer of reality to the optical illusion, similar to the work of Bridget Riley, but with a very different feel. All artists look to one another, borrowing or breaking with the past. Ambiguity is so important! We're all trying to say something without saying anything at all, searching for meaning within the lines.