Edge 3 1985

Editor: This is Warren Rohrer’s "Edge 3" from 1985, done in watercolor. It's mostly pinks and grays, with this incredible textural quality to the upper portion of the painting. What stands out to you when you look at this piece? Curator: What I see here, beyond the purely aesthetic, is Rohrer engaging in a dialogue about the relationship between abstraction and lived experience. The division between the textured upper area and the smoother lower section could be read as a metaphor for the separation between thought and feeling, or even the spiritual and the material. Editor: That's interesting, I hadn't thought about it like that. Is that kind of social commentary common for him? Curator: In a way, yes. While he avoided direct political statements, Rohrer’s process, his insistence on simplicity and materiality, can be seen as a subtle form of resistance against the prevailing art market and consumer culture of the 1980s. It is interesting to note that many abstraction painters were committed to making art more accessible and politically engaged through abstract expression, particularly in the postwar decades. Editor: So, by focusing on the basic elements of art—texture, color, form—he was making a statement? Curator: Precisely! It’s an argument for the inherent value of subjective, non-representational experience. And in the context of the AIDS crisis and the Reagan era, with its emphasis on individualism and economic success, a focus on shared human experience, especially outside of those specific norms, becomes profoundly political. Editor: Wow, I'm definitely seeing this piece in a completely different light now! I appreciate your bringing a more comprehensive historical context to the dialogue. Curator: My pleasure. It shows how even seemingly abstract works can engage with the complex social issues of their time.