Danse carrée: Once Upon a Square 1964

Yves Gaucher painted this work called "Danse carrée: Once Upon a Square" with what seems to be acrylic. There’s a real feeling of the hand at work here, despite its hard-edged appearance. It's all about flatness, and this red colour is very particular. Not quite fire engine, more like a faded brick you might see on an old building. The little marks break up the flat surface, making it fizz with potential energy. I love the pastel-coloured dashes and squares scattered around; they feel quite playful and intimate. It feels to me as though the artist is taking the modernist grid and turning it on its side a bit, like a minimalist Sol Lewitt with a bit of a wink. I'm interested in the title and that idea of dance, a set of rules that allow for improvisations and conversations between the dancers. Maybe Gaucher is having a conversation with those minimalist ideas in his own way. Art is just one long conversation anyway, isn't it?