Hexagon 1969

Editor: This is Florin Maxa's "Hexagon," painted in 1969 using acrylic. It’s strikingly simple, a brown hexagon with subtle geometric patterns inside. It gives a feeling of industrial precision. What's your perspective on this piece? Curator: Well, considering the '60s, we have to think about the context of material production. Acrylic paint, a relatively new material then, allowed for a level of smoothness and evenness previously unattainable. Notice how Maxa avoids any gestural mark-making. It challenges the ideas of art connected to the artist's touch. What was considered "craft," like industrial design and geometrical calculations, becomes prominent in artmaking. Editor: So you're saying the *lack* of visible brushstrokes is significant? It feels very intentional. Curator: Precisely! Think of hard-edge painting, also pop art. Maxa utilizes industrial methods. He rejects art made using individual expression by prioritizing flatness and evenness with modern, synthetic paints. It’s about questioning what constitutes artistic labor and revaluing the tools and methods that were traditionally seen as separate from 'high art'. Where is the painting's cultural meaning in 1969 coming from? Editor: I see it now. It's less about the "hexagon" itself, and more about *how* it was created, and the ideas around that process and that particular industrial period, the paint and tools themselves… Curator: Exactly. It's the means of production, the societal relationship to material. By employing them, Maxa reframes our understanding of what art *is*. Editor: I've always thought about artwork's topic and design instead of manufacture. I appreciate you explaining its connection to creation. Thank you! Curator: My pleasure! Considering how artists employ the latest materials gives you valuable insights.