660 Shadow of the Stars

Friedensreich Hundertwasser made this colourful print, 660 Shadow of the Stars, in 1967. Look at the way the colours don't quite match up to the lines, creating a shimmering effect! It's like the art-making itself is a kind of happening, a process of layering and offsetting, rather than a precise rendering. I love how Hundertwasser embraces the physicality of printmaking. The colours are vivid, almost acidic. Check out the head, a patchwork of squares and lines. It reminds me of windows, like a building. Then there are these vertical lines running down the neck like a kind of fluted column. It is a bit like the head of a statue, but made of something softer, more yielding. Hundertwasser's work always makes me think about Paul Klee, with that similar interest in colour and playful abstraction. I love the way art keeps unfolding, each artist building on what came before. It's all so wonderfully ambiguous.