Komplementäres Spannungsfeld 1971

Camille Graeser made this geometric composition sometime in the 20th century using blocks of bold colour. I can just imagine the artist carefully mixing each colour, maybe tweaking the hues just so, before applying them to the canvas with a steady hand. He was probably trying to find a balance between the colours and shapes. The turquoise and red rectangles push against each other, creating a visual tension that the artist called a ‘complementary field of tension.’ Graeser’s painting reminds me of the work of other artists who explored geometric abstraction, such as Piet Mondrian and Josef Albers. All these painters were interested in the relationships between colours and forms, and how they could create dynamic compositions through simple means. You can see how each color changes the perception of the colours next to it. It’s like these artists were having a conversation across time, each one building on the ideas of the others to develop their own unique vision.