Ringaround Arosie 1965

Eva Hesse made this painting, Ringaround Arosie, with paint and cord, making use of a grey, red and white color palette. I wonder how she made those conical spirals, and how many attempts it took to make them so neat. Painting is such a trial-and-error process and I can imagine Hesse working slowly, building up this image in increments, maybe even re-doing parts until she felt it had the right effect. The cord is so tactile, like a three-dimensional drawing on the canvas. I like the way the grey background has a kind of scumbled texture, creating depth behind the two circles. It’s really a painting that flirts with sculpture. There's something about the simplicity of the forms and the limited color range which feels quietly radical. You see a similar approach in the work of artists like Agnes Martin, or even some of the early minimalists. Artists are always looking at each other's work and learning from each other; it is a shared language. It just goes to show how painting can be a site of experimentation and open-ended inquiry.