St. Marks (16 Frames) 1967

Miriam Schapiro made ‘St Marks (16 Frames)’ with silver leaf, glitter, and rhoplex on canvas. I imagine Schapiro carefully laying down the silver leaf, each square like a little stage, maybe thinking about light, reflection, and what's real or fake. Then she frames those silvery spaces with these sharp, confident lines in primary colors. Think of the artist stepping back, squinting, adding a touch of glitter, then another. It’s a conversation, a game of call and response between her and the canvas. The Rhoplex gives it this smooth, almost unreal finish, like a dream you can touch. The colors feel like a nod to Mondrian, but Schapiro twists it, making it her own, adding that touch of sparkle, of femininity, of something a little subversive. It's bold but somehow delicate. That's the magic of painting, right? Taking something familiar and turning it into something completely new, like a visual poem that keeps unfolding the more you look at it.