Description of Table 1964

Richard Artschwager made this Description of Table, with, well, the materials he chose to use! The surface is where things get interesting. Look at the way the white material kinda spills over the edge, like a tablecloth that's not quite behaving. It’s so rigid, not soft like fabric at all. The dark, almost black planes, set against the faux wood grain, create a weird tension. It's like he's asking, what is real, and what's just pretending? I remember once trying to paint wood grain, and it never looked right. Artschwager totally nails that slightly-off feeling. He is almost winking at us, like he is saying, 'it’s just a table, but it's also a question mark.' It reminds me a bit of Magritte, that unsettling feeling that nothing is quite what it seems. It makes you think about how we see, and how slippery reality can be.