Black Construction 1969

Alexander Bogen made this painting, with its big black and white rectangles and the occasional stripe of red, sometime in the 20th century. I can imagine him wrestling with the composition, pushing blocks of colour around like tectonic plates. Black presses down heavily, and a few swipes of bright red pulse through the darkness like emergency flares. I wonder if the 'construction' of the title is about building something or demolishing it. There’s a raw, exposed feeling here, like peering into the foundations of something. It reminds me of Franz Kline's work, or maybe even some of Robert Motherwell’s more somber paintings. There’s a conversation happening between artists across time, where one’s struggle becomes another’s inspiration. These painters give each other permission to be uncertain, to embrace the messiness of the medium, and to trust that something meaningful will emerge from the chaos.