#14 1965

Here, we see Karl Benjamin’s striking painting, #14. Bold blocks of red, white, and yellow create a visually arresting composition. These shapes aren't merely decorative. They propose a dynamic interplay of color and form. Benjamin explores how colors interact and affect our perception. The red and white stripes seem to float against the yellow background, creating an illusion of depth. This hints at the artist's engagement with color field painting, and its emphasis on pure color as the subject of the artwork. Looking closer, notice how the hard edges of the shapes define their boundaries, but the colors bleed slightly into each other. The artwork questions fixed meanings, playing with contrasts between harmony and discord, order and chaos. It’s a sophisticated game of visual dynamics and an exercise in destabilizing established ideas about space, perception, and representation. This creates an experience that's always fresh, always open to interpretation.