Art Theory Text with Invalid and Valid Configurations 1948

Curator: This is "Art Theory Text with Invalid and Valid Configurations" by Stuart Davis. It's undated, but its exploration of abstraction is quintessential Davis. What strikes you first? Editor: Its stark simplicity. The handwritten text combined with those rudimentary sketches creates a fascinating tension between the verbal and the visual. Curator: Indeed. Davis is dissecting representation itself. Note how the "valid" configuration is described as "purely a Color-Space decision," emphasizing form over mimetic accuracy. Editor: The "C" shapes, though, feel like coded symbols. Davis seems to suggest they only possess meaning if detached from conventional, "representational meaning." Almost like a secret language. Curator: Precisely, he challenges our ingrained habits of seeing and interpreting. It is a crucial deconstruction of visual syntax. Editor: This reminds me of a private meditation. The universal is found not in replication, but in the freedom of pure artistic invention. Curator: A fitting note, as Davis wrestled with these ideas throughout his career. Editor: An image of artistic liberation, ultimately.