Cathedral #11 1968

Leon Berkowitz created *Cathedral #11* with luminous color. Its structure is strikingly simple: vertical bands of color that seem to float, their edges softly bleeding into one another. Yellow, teal, red and orange create a chromatic rhythm that's both vibrant and meditative. Looking closely, you'll notice how Berkowitz manipulates the opacity of the paint, creating a sense of depth and atmospheric perspective within the bands. The colors appear to glow, invoking the stained glass windows found in gothic cathedrals, but the experience is purely abstract. Berkowitz asks us to consider color's inherent qualities, how it interacts with light and space, and how it impacts our emotional state. The bands create a semiotic system. We interpret the cultural codes, where each color evokes different emotions, memories, and associations. The painting destabilizes traditional notions of representation, it explores new ways of thinking about space and perception. In this way, Berkowitz's abstract language encourages us to explore the sublime in pure form.