Grid #8 1969

Thomas Downing created "Grid #8" using acrylic on canvas sometime in the mid-20th century. Downing was associated with the Washington Color School, a group that emerged in the 1950s and 60s, in Washington D.C. Their art pushed against the dominant style of abstract expressionism. Instead of the angst and emotion you see in artists like Jackson Pollock, the Washington Color School embraced a cool, detached aesthetic. "Grid #8" exemplifies this. The evenly spaced, colored circles arranged in a grid-like pattern, create a sense of order and visual harmony. The color school, like other movements in the 1960's, turned away from the institutions of the art world, seeing them as outdated and elitist. Downing was interested in pure color and form, and his work reflects a desire to create a universal visual language, free from cultural or historical baggage. To understand the work of Downing and the Washington Color School better, we can look at the art criticism of the period, along with the social and economic conditions that gave rise to this uniquely American art.