Triangle Form 1951

This is Ellsworth Kelly’s "Triangle Form," and well, you can see what it is! I can imagine him standing there, thinking about how to make such a simple shape speak. That solid black triangle on the off-white canvas—it's so matter-of-fact, right? But there's also something kind of magical about it. The edges are so crisp and clean, you can tell Kelly wanted a flat, smooth surface. He wasn’t interested in texture or brushstrokes. He was a master of reductive forms. When I look at this triangle, I think about all the different ways we can see the world. A triangle is a basic shape, but it can also be a mountain, an arrow, a warning sign. Kelly’s triangles are not just geometric shapes; they’re also stand-ins for all sorts of things. It makes me think of Barnett Newman and his zips, so simple, yet, endlessly fascinating. It’s all one big conversation.