Ad Reinhardt: Geometric Abstractions

Art is Art. Everything else is everything else.

-Ad Reinhardt

THE ARTIST

Ad Reinhardt is a prominent American artist (1913-67) known for his work with geometric forms within the abstract expressionism movement. His early work reflects his desire to limit the influence of the external world, and is characterized by the use of bold, abstract shapes, rectangular figures, and the contrast of hard edges and smooth curves. Throughout his work life, Reinhardt proved his versatility as an artist through his exploration of various styles of modern art. Early paintings showcase the neutral colors of a Cubist influence and the vivid pigments, reminiscent of Stuart Davis’ work, alike. His later 'Black Paintings' (1954-67) works garnered more fame for their complete lack of extraneous references and return to absolute purity in the form of the color black: “As an artist I would like to eliminate the symbolic pretty much, for black is interesting not as a color but as a non-color and as the absence of color” (Reinhardt). These paintings use black and grey hues to often delineate a barley distinguishable grid or cross. (The cover image of this project is one such Black Painting - did you notice?)

Untitled (Grey and Red)

THE WORK

I chose Reinhardt's piece 'Untitled (Red and Grey)' (1950) (shown above) because it combines elements from his geometric beginnings and mid-career love of bright pigments. I was personally drawn to the interesting medley of colors that ‘Untitled’ tends to exhibit. The harsh orange is striking – almost intimidating. It is reminiscent of tears in fabric, and thus further enhances the notion of discordancy that the work generally achieves. The grey in the background isn’t uniform either, and with the superimposition of orange on top, builds tension that draws the eye towards the larger gaps of grey – almost goading the viewer to find order within chaos. Most impressively, the blocky orange shapes aggravate the aggression of the overall composition as opposed to alleviating it – which is what one would typically expect with predictable cuboid shapes. The final thing that caught my attention was ironically the first thing I noticed about the piece, its name – ‘Untitled’. The artist is essentially inviting (or challenging, depending on your perspective) the viewer to make sense of his work from the limited information provided.

MY ATTEMPT

I chose the Paper iPad app to attempt to recreate Ad Reinhardt's 'Untitled (Red and Grey)' painting. I will admit that I had no previous experience using digital tools for art and my attempt is a reflection of this fact. It fails to capture the brush strokes that add texture and interest to the original painting. A careful examination of Reinhardt's work reveals 'imperfections' as some exquisite blocks of red paint are not perfectly outlined and rectangular. Meanwhile, all my lines are straight and uninteresting, and my blocks are 'scratchy'. I underestimated this painting and the powerful emotions it manages to convey with its two-colored shapes. If I were to repeat my recreation, I would choose another medium; even with a stylus it was difficult to fill in the shapes and I did not have access to many effects.

REFLECTION

It was interesting to look at art that succeeds in spite of being so unashamedly two-dimensional. Art, to me, has always been about expression – a decidedly human, three-dimensional idea. 'Untitled (Red and Grey)' doesn’t convey expression - it provokes it. And it does this with its highly limited dual tone, dual directional palate? I didn’t believe that was possible. 'Untitled' effectively taught me that less is more – the less of the external world that an artist references, the more he leaves to interpretation; by extension, the more he makes room for his viewers to engage in expression.

Sources:

http://www.theartstory.org/artist-reinhardt-ad.htm

http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artists/bios/530