Untitled 

This is an untitled piece by Robert Ryman, a field of white blocks on canvas. A brick wall is evoked, a fundamental symbol of structure and enclosure. But consider the color, or lack thereof. White, in its purity, represents both the tabula rasa and the spectral culmination of all colors. One might recall the stark white walls of the asylums, meant to cleanse and purify the mind, or the blank canvas upon which artists project their innermost thoughts. The brick motif echoes through history, from ancient Roman architecture to modern urban landscapes. The arrangement, too, is no accident. The bricks' configuration invites consideration of our attempts to contain the chaos of existence. This simple pattern becomes a mirror reflecting our deepest anxieties and hopes. The wall, an eternal symbol, a boundary, a testament to human will, forever rebuilt, forever breached.