Stage II 1958

This is Karl Benjamin's painting called 'Stage II', and right away, you're looking at the building blocks of something playful. The solid colors give it a clean, graphic punch, but it's not cold. The painting's surface is super smooth, almost like it was born that way, a real contrast to my own messy brushstrokes. Look at the way Benjamin sets up a rhythm with the shapes, echoing and mirroring, but never quite the same. Notice the central lozenge, how the colors meet in a sharp, clean line. It's like a little stage, a place where colors perform. Benjamin's work reminds me a bit of some of those early hard-edge painters, like Ellsworth Kelly, but with a California twist – maybe it's that extra bit of sunshine baked in. It's not about answers but keeping the conversation going.