The Garden of Love #1 1982

Robert Indiana made The Garden of Love #1, and you know, just seeing it makes me think about how art isn’t just about making things, but about making seeing. There's something so iconic about the stacked letters, the tilted 'O.' It's a celebration of color and form. The flat planes of blue, green, and white are bold, making it hard to ignore. The colors feel so deliberately chosen, each one playing off the other to create a sense of balance. Look closely, and you can see how the edges of each letter are so clean. It’s hard to imagine that it was made by hand. Indiana knew his art history. His love of signs and symbols relates him to other Pop Artists like Andy Warhol. It is a piece that reminds us that art is always talking to other art. It's a conversation that never really ends.