Festival 1983

Albert Irvin created this painting named “Festival” with broad strokes of vivid color. The forms, while abstract, invoke a sense of lively celebration, calling upon visual memory and subconscious emotions associated with communal joy. Consider the symbolism of the circle and the line, ancient forms present in cultures around the world. The circle, often seen as a symbol of wholeness, unity, and cyclical time, has been revered across various cultures, from ancient sun worship to its use in mandalas. In contrast, the line might represent direction, movement, and connectivity. In Irvin’s work, the lines intersect, binding together circles of different colors. Such intersections reflect a deep-seated human impulse to find order and connection. The human mind, in its quest for meaning, seeks to reconcile disparate elements into a cohesive whole, evoking primal emotions tied to our collective past. The festival is thus a symbolic representation of life's inherent dynamism, a visual echo of humanity's continuous dance between chaos and order.