Divine Analogy 4 1963

Curator: Alfred Jensen's "Divine Analogy 4," painted in 1963, employs a complex grid system on canvas. What's your initial response to this work? Editor: At first glance, I am struck by its vibrant energy and deceptive simplicity. It almost appears like a woven tapestry with geometric precision. Curator: The work engages with a discourse about pattern and its connection to cosmic ordering. Jensen drew heavily on mathematical and philosophical systems, specifically the I Ching. Considering the context of 1963, this feels like a counter-narrative to the Cold War anxiety, an attempt to create a system. Editor: Indeed. The top and bottom motifs are especially interesting. There are birds atop each, stylized but familiar. It evokes ancient cultures where animal figures carried immense symbolic power – messengers, deities, or perhaps spirits connecting the earthly and divine. They stand almost as heraldic devices above and below the mosaic grid. The bottom shapes have more ambiguous iconography – can you speak to this? Curator: These abstract motifs have always challenged viewers. If we acknowledge Jensen's interests in indigenous cultures, and even chaos theory, they represent forces that either reinforce or disrupt those systematic arrangements. Consider Jensen’s own biography; the displacement of war profoundly impacted his intellectual project. Editor: It is interesting to think about it like that. While it is painted in blocks of solid colour it brings a sensory experience when observing them closely and individually – which could draw on elements of cultural identity that go against the common identity imposed on a culture, for example. A lot can be inferred from that pattern through various contexts such as that. Curator: And this tension—between the rigidity of geometric abstraction and the fluidity of cultural meaning, personal trauma, or theoretical explorations—is central to Jensen's artistic contribution, using form to express concepts that address collective trauma through visual analogy. Editor: Thank you for this profound and illuminating exploration of Divine Analogy 4, looking beyond its superficial abstraction. Curator: A pleasure. This dialogue serves as an example for our continued efforts to unearth art historical and contemporary context and give works from all time periods relevancy and meaning today.