Geometric Composition (The Angles of Olle Bærtling) 1968

Olle Baertling made this geometric composition sometime between 1964 and 1968 with the intention to activate the space in the viewers’ mind. Baertling’s shapes are so clearly defined, but at the same time, the interplay between the purple, black, and seafoam green gives off a very definite sense of movement, pushing and pulling the eye. It's almost like these flat colours are vibrating. I can’t help thinking of Ellsworth Kelly who was working with very similar colours and hard edge geometric forms in the same period. Look closely at the meeting point of those angular forms and you see the artist has allowed each plane to sit alongside the other without any softening of the edges, yet the combination of those colours allows for ambiguity, the shapes appear to move back and forth in space. It’s hard to believe something so simple can be so dynamic. It speaks to the power of art to transform how we see the world.