Wavy Brushstrokes 1996

Sol LeWitt made this piece, Wavy Brushstrokes, which is a real head-scratcher in terms of its date and medium; it looks like it might be acrylic on paper, but who knows, right? The surface is teeming with parallel lines in a really tight palette of blues, yellows, and oranges, punctuated with black and white. It’s like looking into a vortex, or a close up of an unruly head of hair. I love the materiality of this piece: the brushstrokes are so physical, so present. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the surface, laying down each stroke with care. And check out how the colors interact. Look at how a tiny blue stroke is nestled next to a vibrant yellow, creating these vibrating, almost optical effects. It's a move you see in Bridget Riley's work. What's cool here is that the piece is simple and repetitive, but somehow it manages to avoid being boring.