Untitled 1961

This untitled print by Emerson Woelffer feels like a dance between intention and accident, a real push-and-pull. There's this deep, dark ground made from what looks like layers of ink, giving it a kind of gritty texture, like asphalt or maybe even outer space. Then you've got this wonky rectangle floating in the middle, surrounded by a delicate circle that just barely contains it. Inside the rectangle, there's a shape, a void, that could be anything. It’s like Woelffer is showing us that art doesn’t always have to be about answers; sometimes, it’s about creating a space for questions. I see a kind of kinship with folks like Robert Motherwell, who were also wrestling with these big, abstract ideas about form and meaning. It’s all part of this ongoing conversation that artists have been having for years. It's not about figuring everything out; it’s about keeping the conversation going.