Méditerannée 1952

Ellsworth Kelly made this colour block abstraction called Méditerranée, and the thing that gets me is how flat it is, the paint is so, so smooth. You see these nine blocks, each a different color: black, white, yellow, red, and a few blues, laid out like a minimalist checkerboard. Look closely, and you might see the slight variations in the paint's surface—a tiny bit thicker here, a little thinner there. It reminds me of the way colour behaved in early Mondrian paintings, the way it seems to float on the canvas. The dark blue in the middle square, it's not just blue; it's like the feeling of deep water, all calm and still. Then there’s the red; it doesn't shout, but it hums with energy. Kelly's work always makes me think about artists like Carmen Herrera, who were simplifying and reducing painting to its bare bones. I love how they both find endless possibilities within such simple parameters. Isn't it amazing how much emotion can be packed into these pure, unblended colours?