The Apex is Nothing 1960

Curator: Let’s discuss Alfred Jensen’s "The Apex is Nothing" from 1960, created using oil paint on panel in an impasto technique. The visible brushstrokes, the layering—it's such a tactile piece. Editor: Immediately striking, isn’t it? The bright, contrasting colors against the rough texture give it an almost playful, yet undeniably powerful presence. A very successful balance! Curator: The materiality really dictates the work's impact, I think. Jensen's active participation, his physical engagement in laying down each stroke contributes as much as the visual symbols. We have to also consider the socio-historical context—the emergence of Pop Art around the time. Do you think Jensen anticipated the later developments or did it come from within? Editor: I see Pop Art definitely at play, yet the composition and choice of color pushes beyond the medium to the symbolic relationships Jensen tries to convey. The quadrants, for instance, they're clearly delineated, creating this tension, a visual problem demanding resolution through careful observation. Curator: Right! And understanding Jensen's labor, the repetitive application, reflects artistic movements from around the same period. He's not just painting; he's enacting a process, a kind of… ritual. It shows this connection to repetitive labor as it gets expressed into different types of patterns in geometric forms across cultures. Editor: Precisely! And this careful construction allows me to think that these aren't random. Each stroke seems meticulously placed, participating in the symbolic structure. Curator: The very physicality of this work argues against a purely detached intellectual analysis; the embodied act of creation itself becomes meaningful. How can we talk about an "apex" if the entire concept has to come from the process? The question stands if one doesn't observe each color relationship with a purpose. Editor: An apex through creation perhaps. It’s truly thought-provoking. Curator: Indeed. It makes you consider how process shapes the intellectual core of the work. Editor: Absolutely. This careful use of shape and form lets the painting speak far more clearly than if it just had symbolic elements alone.