Black Lines 1 1916

Georgia O'Keeffe made this spare painting, "Black Lines 1", using thin black lines on a creamy, off-white background. The way she’s laid down these marks, it feels immediate, as if she’s making it up as she goes along. There is something architectural about the way the two thin lines at the bottom of the painting are anchored to a thick, horizontal base. Then there’s this other line that seems to be floating in space. It shoots up, zigs, and zags, and then just stops. It's like a thought that’s interrupted or a sentence that trails off mid-air. The dark lines and the big pale plane in “Black Lines, No. 1” creates a stark contrast, and a tension that vibrates off the surface. The piece reminds me a little of Agnes Martin, whose grids and lines seem to be searching for a similar kind of quiet openness and space. Ultimately, this painting embraces not knowing, inviting us to ponder the spaces in between, and to revel in the beautiful ambiguity of it all.