Untitled 1960

Antonio Asis made this 'Untitled' painting with just a few confident shapes: circles, half-moons, and a minimal palette of black, red, and grey against a creamy white background. It's really like a dance of forms. I imagine Asis, brush in hand, stepping back, considering, then moving in to place these shapes just so. The flatness, the matte surface, makes me think about the precision of graphic design, but with a playful twist. Look at how the red circles seem to pop out, while the greys recede like whispers. It’s kind of like Asis took constructivist ideas, and let them go a little wild, creating a universe of simple forms. You see echoes of artists like Sophie Taeuber-Arp or even some early Kandinsky. It’s all part of that same conversation, that call and response between artists across time, always finding new ways to see and make.