Curve 1969

Here we have Ronald Bladen's sculpture, Curve, which looks like it was constructed from large planes of black and white painted wood. I imagine Bladen, wrestling with these massive forms, trying to find the perfect balance, the right tension between the planes. There’s something so elemental about it, like a landscape distilled to its basic forms, a monument to the interplay of light and shadow. Bladen’s work reminds me of Barnett Newman’s zips, how they divide space and create a sense of awe. What would it have been like to be in the studio while Bladen was making this? His forms invite you to walk around them, to experience them from different angles, always revealing something new, some subtle shift in perspective. Like all great artists, Bladen is in conversation with the past, pushing the boundaries of what sculpture can be, inviting us to see the world in a new way.