Untitled 1969

Nasreen Mohamedi made this ink on paper work, and what strikes me is its relentless simplicity, a kind of austerity. I can imagine her, alone in her studio, the quality of light she might have preferred. Each line feels carefully considered. I can almost see her hand moving across the page, each gesture a deliberate act of mark-making. The palette is subdued, a symphony of grays and blacks, like a rainy day made visible. The vertical band holds the composition together, while the horizontal and diagonal lines create a sense of tension and release. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin's grids but there is something about the geometry of the piece that is also reminiscent of Sol Lewitt. This is Mohamedi searching for something, and maybe that search is the point, not the finding. That's what inspires us as artists, the ongoing conversation.