Cell 1991

Absalon made this ‘Cell,’ sometime before his death in ‘93, using geometric forms painted a stark, almost sterile white. It's not about brushstrokes or layering, but about how shapes come together to create an environment. The sculpture itself is so clean; I mean, clinical. You could almost imagine these forms as a kind of minimalist architecture shrunk down. Look at how each cylinder and cube is perfectly smooth, with no texture to distract you. It’s like the artist wanted to strip away everything unnecessary and leave us with just the bare bones of a living space, or maybe a coffin? The pureness of the white almost feels too perfect, too controlled. It reminds me of someone like Donald Judd, who also pursued simplicity. But with Absalon, there's this undercurrent of vulnerability, a sense of confinement that feels very personal. In the end though, art is never just one thing, it’s an ongoing experiment with meaning and feeling.