Untitled 1948

Cesar Domela made this untitled piece using paint, and a steady hand. Look at the careful layering and consider the decisions that went into the finished composition. The background colour is really interesting, a kind of muddy olive green, it’s a very grounded colour which allows the brighter geometric shapes to float and hover in a pictorial space. The textures, colours and hard edged lines all work together, creating a fascinating tension between the graphic and the painterly. I particularly like the red amoeba-like shape that sits within the blue triangle, echoed by the thin curving lines, which feel free and improvisational. It’s a complex, yet somehow harmonious relationship between these elements. It reminds me of the work of Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Both artists explore geometry and abstraction. Art is always an ongoing conversation across time; the point is never to arrive at any fixed meaning.