20" Cube 1968

Larry Bell made this untitled cube of coated glass sometime during his career. It’s a sculpture, but the way it plays with light makes it almost painterly. I love how the colors shift and shimmer. It’s like looking at a Rothko, but in three dimensions, and you can see right through it! Light becomes the actual medium here. Up close, you can see the subtle surface variations in the coating, those imperfections almost feel like brushstrokes. It’s cool how the industrial process gives it a kind of handmade quality. Bell's work reminds me a little of Robert Irwin, another west coast artist who's into light and space. These artists aren’t trying to give you a clear message. Instead, they're inviting you to just look and see, and that's a wonderful thing. Art doesn’t always have to explain everything, sometimes it’s enough to just be.