1st Sculpture 1969

Michael Bolus’s '1st Sculpture’ looks like it was made in the spirit of experimentation, somewhere between painting and construction. It’s not about concealing the process, but about celebrating the raw, material qualities of these stacked forms. The metal struts supporting each square are functional but also read as rhythmic marks, anchoring the sculpture to the ground, while the pastel and primary colored surfaces create a dynamic tension, like a deck of cards fanned open. What I like here is the way Bolus treats color as a physical presence, something that occupies space and interacts with light. Look closely, you can see small imperfections or inconsistencies in the surfaces, perhaps from layers of paint or some other material. Bolus’s pursuit reminds me of Sol LeWitt's modular structures or Blinky Palermo’s shaped canvases, where the artwork becomes an object in space, engaging with the viewer on a sensory level. It’s about the joy of making and the endless possibilities of form.