Positano 1960

Will Barnet's 'Positano' is laid out in matte blacks and pale blues on a canvas over a meter tall. I'm struck by the material density of those blacks, how they hold their shape, almost like solid forms suspended in a hazy atmosphere. You can almost feel Barnet moving around the canvas, testing those shapes, pushing and pulling them until they lock into place. Did he work from sketches? Or did he just go straight at it? I can almost see him, stepping back, squinting, then diving back in to adjust a curve or refine an edge. And that big black oval, it almost feels like a portal, a glimpse into some other dimension. What a bold move to place that shape so prominently! I love how it plays against the sharper angles of the other forms, creating a sense of tension and release. It makes me think of other artists, like Ad Reinhardt, who were exploring the possibilities of reductive abstraction. It’s all about exchange; we build on what others have done and create new ideas.