Flux 1964

Editor: Here we have "Flux," painted in 1964 by Hans Hofmann, using oils and acrylics. The colours really leap out, don’t they? There’s a sort of playful energy but something unresolved in the arrangement. What's your take? What do you see in this piece? Curator: Well, Hofmann... he wasn't just painting colours, he was conducting symphonies of pure sensation! Look at how those rectangular shapes seem to push and pull – it's his "push and pull" theory in action, where colour creates spatial tension. Editor: Spatial tension? Curator: Absolutely! Think of it as a visual dance. Hofmann believed that abstract art could express profound emotions. See that cadmium red against the phthalo blue? It's like watching fire and ice flirt across the canvas! And that underpainting...it reminds me of half-remembered memories struggling to come to the fore. Does the painting trigger any emotions for you? Editor: It feels almost chaotic, yet there’s a harmony trying to emerge. Curator: Yes, that’s exactly it. It is as if Hofmann is trying to paint change itself...the ever-shifting kaleidoscope of the mind and the world. He said he aimed to “discover the faculty of creating an illusion.” I love the almost aggressive way Hofmann uses such vivid colors to challenge us, almost daring us to find something deeper within ourselves. Editor: I never thought about it that way, that abstract could be about constant change and deeper reflection! Curator: Art's like that; the more you look, the more it shows you... about itself, and you.