Untitled 1950

Curator: Here, we have an early work by Carmen Herrera, "Untitled," from 1950. It's an oil painting, very much a product of its time, deeply engaged with abstraction and geometric form. Editor: Woah. It's strikingly simple. I see a minimalist landscape, maybe? Like, two big chunks of serene, blinding sky meeting at the horizon of a mysterious shadow. Curator: Interesting read. Remember Herrera's journey—a Cuban artist working in the mid-20th century art world that often sidelined women and artists from the Global South. Her exploration of minimalist geometric forms can be seen as a radical act of claiming space, defying expectations about femininity, representation, and who gets to be seen, or rather, who is deemed worthy to be shown. Editor: Claiming space, I like that. Because on the surface it seems so stark, so devoid of emotion. But knowing that she was pushing against all of that? I can see the tension now, even in that crisp line of black paint. It feels less like a calm horizon, more like a boundary. Curator: And look closer at the composition—the balance isn't quite symmetrical. The weighting between the white and black shifts depending on your vantage point, creating an instability. It challenges ideas around harmony, reflecting the fractured and contested socio-political landscape she navigated. Editor: It’s funny how the less 'there' something seems, the more power it holds. Because what *isn’t* there is as important as what *is.* Curator: Precisely! The negative space around that central black line emphasizes it. And if we consider the context, negative space is loaded—what’s left unsaid, unseen, and undervalued. Herrera fills it with agency and potential. Editor: It’s got me thinking about the choices artists make, the stories paintings can reveal even if they’re very reduced, or, you know, abstract. Art can make you feel differently once you learn something more about it. Curator: Absolutely. And the enduring relevance of Herrera's "Untitled" is a testament to the potency of minimalism to resonate and offer new understandings of marginalized histories and experiences. Editor: So, in other words, that simple line says a lot!