Variant/Adobe 1962

Josef Albers made this piece, *Variant/Adobe*, with oil on masonite. It’s all about how colors behave, the greens and blues quietly resonating outwards. I imagine Albers in his studio, layering colors in a kind of reverie. The way the rectangles play off one another creates a push and pull, almost like a visual breath. The paint isn’t applied roughly; it's smooth, considered, each layer reacting to the last. Look at the way the blues seem to glow against the earthy greens; he’s pushing the eye to consider how adjacent colors can alter our perception. It reminds me a bit of Agnes Martin's grids, a kind of quiet meditation on form and color. Like a jazz riff, Albers takes a simple structure and improvises, inviting us into his chromatic conversation. We, too, can play with these colors in our mind's eye!