Untitled [triangle and square] 1978

Edward Avedisian's painting, Untitled (Triangle and Square), seems like it was made yesterday but who knows when. It's raw, direct, and the colors kind of vibrate, don't they? Looking at the surface, you can almost feel the paint, thick in places, thin in others. He's not trying to hide anything – you see every brushstroke, every decision. Take the red square at the top, for instance, it’s a square within a square within a square, each one wobbling a bit, refusing to be perfect. It's all about the physicality of the medium. Avedisian lays down each layer as a step in his thinking. It reminds me a bit of the work of Forrest Bess, who similarly used geometric forms and color to explore personal and symbolic themes. It's that willingness to embrace ambiguity, to let the painting be a record of its own making, that really grabs me. Art isn't about answers, it's about questions.