Untitled (from Pasadena Box) 1963

Curator: I find myself captivated by the pure joy radiating from this untitled work by Sam Francis, created in 1963, part of his "Pasadena Box" series. The acrylic paint practically leaps off the surface. Editor: Yes, its raw immediacy hits you right away. It's bold, almost confrontational in its simplicity. Is that a dialogue between optimism and something darker lurking underneath? Curator: Perhaps. For me, the dominance of blue and yellow calls to mind archetypal symbols. Blue often embodies the spiritual, the infinite. While yellow can symbolize enlightenment, illumination but in contrast to blue here it represents sickness, cowardice, and treachery. Editor: And look at the splatters, the drips, that frenetic energy. It reminds me of Pollock, but somehow lighter. I can’t ignore the way this work sits within its socio-political climate, can we read it in the context of abstract expressionism’s attempt to escape a post-war world, perhaps a cry for freedom from the constraints of representational art… and a patriarchal society? Curator: Absolutely, it's tempting to draw those connections. For many, these large fields of color evoked the sublime. In Eastern philosophies, colors often have specific associations: yellow for warmth and divinity and blue sometimes connects with healing. Editor: Healing? In that period? There was the Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum, anxieties surrounding the Cold War… does the naivete perhaps reflect an escapism available only to those with privilege at the time? Is it an echo chamber? Curator: An echo chamber, or perhaps a utopian yearning. A desire to reach towards a shared humanity through purely abstract forms and bold colours, setting a contrast to what came after Pop art, it's loud. Editor: Loud indeed, and very poignant. Curator: Very true. Its impact keeps evolving the longer you engage with it. Editor: Ultimately, though, I think what speaks most strongly is its sheer visual power and its disconnections. I'll leave contemplating its implications and visual story in abstraction for the viewer to unpack and decide, connecting them with themselves.