Untitled (Free Structures) 1962

Editor: Here we have Charlotte Posenenske's "Untitled (Free Structures)" from 1962, made with acrylic paint. It's a striking array of blue and grey intersecting lines, and I immediately get a sense of... energetic construction, like seeing the blueprint of a building coming to life. What's your take? Curator: I agree that 'energetic' is a key word. What strikes me is how Posenenske, by emphasizing the raw gestural application of paint – the materiality of it – resists the illusionistic depth so prized by traditional painting. The process is the point. It's "free" precisely because it relinquishes control, leaning into the inherent qualities of the acrylic and the swiftness of its application. Editor: So, it's not necessarily about what the lines *represent*, but about how they were made? Curator: Exactly. Think about the social and industrial context. This was made at a time when art production was increasingly mechanized and Pop Art was beginning to blur boundaries between mass culture and high art. Posenenske's use of simple, industrial-like gestures, reproduced seemingly without effort, critiques the myth of the artist's genius and the preciousness of the art object itself. Notice how the white space around the lines almost reads as the negative space in a factory blueprint. Editor: I see what you mean! The repeated strokes feel almost manufactured, and yet…the small variations betray the hand. It's like a deliberate tension. So is it about the democratization of art production? Curator: Precisely! Posenenske would later abandon painting altogether for modular, mass-producible sculptures, reflecting her growing belief in art’s accessibility and social function. This work hints at that trajectory. Editor: That's really insightful. I came in thinking abstract expressionism, but now I see something far more critical and engaged with its time. Thank you! Curator: And I've been prompted to reconsider the implications of the materiality and making evident within that supposed "Abstract Expressionism." Always something new to explore.