R60-27 1960

Johannes Jan Schoonhoven made this relief, R60-27, with paint, cardboard, and wood. It's got this grid of white squares, like maybe a minimalist chessboard or some kind of strange building blocks. I can imagine Schoonhoven in his studio, meticulously building up layers of cardboard and wood, covering it all in white paint, over and over, and making this repeating pattern. I imagine him thinking about the relationship between order and chaos. Each square is individual, but together they make this rigid form. Looking at it, I can see how this connects to other artists who were thinking about geometry, and minimalism, but Schoonhoven's got this kind of handmade, textural quality that sets it apart. It's like he's saying, even in the most rigid structure, there's room for the human touch. That's what artists do – they riff off each other, building on ideas, playing with forms, and ultimately, making something totally new.