Three Panels: Orange, Dark Gray, Green 1986

Curator: Immediately striking, isn’t it? “Three Panels: Orange, Dark Gray, Green,” by Ellsworth Kelly, created in 1986. Editor: It's quite... assertive. Those flat, bold colors practically leap off the wall. I'm immediately curious about the making, the layering, or even the possible industrial processes behind them. The paint looks almost applied in a single go. Curator: Kelly’s explorations with color and form delve deeply into the psychology of perception. Notice how the negative space between the panels shapes our understanding of the composition as a whole. Orange is optimism, isn’t it? While black can feel somber, maybe even oppressive? The emerald is earthy and calming, but it doesn't hold them together. Editor: That's the thing. I'm not so sure about the psychological reading. This piece feels much more concerned with its physicality: the acrylic on canvas, the scale. It's an unapologetic investigation of pure, unmodulated color in a large format, and it brings our attention back to how materials shape the artistic choices made in the studio and its processes. Curator: But can’t the experience of encountering pure color *be* a symbolic journey? Hard-edge painting like this distills color down to its most essential form. These are like color totems that draw from a collective memory. The shape feels familiar – we know what this looks like – but do we know how they make us feel? It becomes a personal interpretation of our cultural knowledge. Editor: And that takes form through this artistic manufacturing, you know? Thinking of the history of Colour Field painting makes me think about industrial design. The clean execution suggests a kind of...mass-produced ideal, right? It challenges the conventional ideas of art. Curator: Perhaps he's subtly nodding to our shared history by evoking certain artistic eras, or movements that may resonate with an underlying tone to speak to common experiences. Editor: Absolutely. It brings forward considerations for accessible visual consumption, even if in tension with historical associations to color symbolism. Curator: Indeed. The symbols are here, if you need them. Thanks for joining me to discover our collection! Editor: Thank you; seeing Kelly's materials again is just superb!