Progression 1959

Horacio Garcia-Rossi made this mathematical-looking painting called 'Progression' with paint and a steady hand. I can see him working, step by step, trying to get each circle in its right spot. It reminds me of Sol Lewitt's wall drawings, where simple geometric shapes are arranged in different sequences. I get a sense of seriality and repetition. Each circle is carefully painted, like each one has been considered independently, but together they form a larger pattern. I like to think of the artist, maybe like an early computer, arranging and re-arranging. I wonder if Horacio thought about the idea of progress or change, or maybe he liked the way that the contrast between black and white popped against the sky-blue, and, like many other artists, was playing around to see what could happen. Anyway, it's a solid conversation-starter of a painting, which might be the best kind.