Study Attic Series VIII 1990

Robert Mangold made this Study Attic Series VIII, probably using a printmaking technique, given how flat and even the colors are. I’m looking at that warm, golden ochre, diagonally slicing across the page, and I can imagine Mangold thinking about shape and form, pushing that color against the blank white space. It looks like he might be trying to make something simple and, at the same time, complex. The figure-eight shape, delicately drawn in line, pushes against the edges of the painted color plane. Does it float or is it stuck? Painters have always borrowed from each other, riffing on ideas across generations. Maybe he was thinking about Ellsworth Kelly, or Agnes Martin, or maybe even going way back to Matisse and his cut-outs. It's like one big conversation, each artist leaving their mark, adding to the dialogue. What’s certain is that by bringing together the different aspects of color, shape and form, Mangold makes us look at the world in a different way.