Horizontal Lines of Color 2005

Sol LeWitt made this painting of horizontal lines of color, and I am already imagining the process. It looks like he had a kind of system to follow, perhaps as a set of rules. The horizontal lines, mostly in shades of gray, black and white, undulate in an open field. They are punctuated by little instances of color. Did he apply these colors at random, or were they part of the original plan? This reminds me of Agnes Martin’s work, even though she used grids instead of lines. Both artists shared an interest in rational systems that gave way to more expressive outcomes. Making art is always a dance between intention and accident, control and letting go. LeWitt certainly knew a thing or two about how to open up this space of exchange! He shows us how we can be both logical and intuitive in our practice, while finding meaning in the unexpected. He shows us that art can emerge from the structure of thought.