Amarillo 1971

Carmen Herrera made this painting, Amarillo, with acrylic on canvas, and the first thing I notice is that screaming yellow, sliced by a white line. It's so simple, and so hard to do! I imagine Herrera in her studio, squinting, trying to get that yellow just right, thinking about light, about space, about geometry. She’s trying to find a way to make painting new and alive, almost as though the painting is a living, breathing thing! It's not just color; it's an experience! I love the way she's so interested in the edge, the dividing line. I imagine a back and forth, does it work? What does it need? Like a poem, it all comes down to the cut. Herrera is in conversation with a long history of painters who have sought to distill form and color to its essence. It's like she’s saying, "Look what I can do with so little!" And what she does is so much.