Orange Relief with Green 1991

Ellsworth Kelly made this “Orange Relief with Green” with paint on wood. It’s so flat, so clean. The thing about Kelly is the shapes themselves seem to arrive first. His eye goes to a shadow, an edge, a corner, and he pulls it out, isolates it. Then, he thinks, how can I make this real, make it exist as a thing, not just an image? Look how the orange curves, like a slice of something, pushing against that solid green rectangle. The colors don’t blend or bleed; they just *are*. That smooth surface, it’s almost impersonal, but somehow that makes it more powerful. I’m thinking of Josef Albers, another artist so interested in the behavior of colors when they’re put together. It’s like they’re having a conversation we get to eavesdrop on. Kelly's work always asks, what is a painting? What is a sculpture? What is real, and what is just a representation? He doesn't give us easy answers, and that's why it sticks with you.