Dichotomic Organization 1959

Lorser Feitelson made this geometrical painting, Dichotomic Organization, probably in the middle of the 20th century, with oil on canvas. The color is applied in flat zones that are really opaque, like he wants to cut out shapes. The matte quality of the paint lends itself to an exploration of flatness and surface. He is working out pictorial problems here ––what is foreground and background? Is the form positive or negative? See how the black form is a ‘V’, but when it meets the sharp angle of the orange, it turns into a leg, like it wants to walk out of the painting. Feitelson reminds me a little of the precision and ambiguity of someone like Al Held. It’s like he sets up a problem for himself, and then he paints his way out of it. Except the solution he arrives at somehow creates more questions. It's not about answers but it's about the process itself.