Irregular Bands with Colors Superimposed 1991

Sol LeWitt made this painting, Irregular Bands with Colors Superimposed, with paint, and by hand. Looking at the image, you can see how the irregular lines create a kind of rhythmic zig-zag across the plane. The colors are muted, but somehow still vibrant, there's a real tactile quality to the surface. You can imagine the brushstrokes, the layering, the push and pull of the paint. Like LeWitt is thinking through the medium. The texture is key here, right? The paint isn't trying to hide itself, but celebrates its own materiality. The blue band, for example, it’s not just blue; it's got grays and greens, it's uneven, alive, the colors fighting for space. This reminds me a little of Agnes Martin's grids, but with more grit, more of a visible, tangible process. It reminds us that artmaking is a human endeavor, a conversation, an experiment, and never a fixed or perfect thing.