Again is a Gain, #6 1971

Frederick Hammersley made this geometric painting, all crisp lines and perfectly formed squares, sometime in his career. The palette is a simple black and white. I bet he used tape, masking off areas to achieve those hard edges. What was Hammersley thinking, I wonder, when he made this? Was he interested in seriality, like Sol LeWitt? Or maybe he was having a bad day and just needed to create something ordered and controlled. Each square sits flatly on the surface of the canvas, in a formal grid. I can imagine the satisfaction he felt filling in each one with an even coat of black paint. It reminds me of Agnes Martin's grids, but without the wobble. Hammersley's piece is all about precision. Like all paintings, it is part of a conversation with other artworks. It speaks of the way painting gives form to ideas, embodies feeling, and invites us to look and think. There are no fixed meanings. It is an open invitation to make your own connections.