Untitled 

Editor: Here we have Adnan Coker’s *Untitled* acrylic on canvas. The hard-edged forms and cool color palette create such a strong feeling of geometric calm, or perhaps sterile emptiness? What stands out to you from a formal perspective? Curator: Indeed, the canvas presents a compelling arrangement of forms and hues. Note the primary shapes – the rectangle, the semicircle, and the vertical line bisecting the composition. Consider their relationship: how does the artist use line and color to create depth and tension on a flat surface? Editor: The cool blue rectangle and the darkness of the background, along with the smaller semi-circles down below, make me think of minimalist architecture, a little forbidding. What do you make of the textures? Curator: Examine how Coker utilizes the layering of color to give texture without overt brushstrokes. The flat application enhances the abstract quality. Observe also how the stark, almost clinical lines create a tension between form and void, inviting the viewer to engage with the work purely on its formal terms. Does the vertical line seem to act as a bridge, a connection of the separate pieces? Editor: That’s a good point; without it, the composition might fall apart! Seeing this from a formalist viewpoint helps distill what is successful with its design, or even challenge the intent based only on structure. Curator: Precisely. And considering only the formal components encourages us to see the relationship between surface, shape and intention within abstraction. Editor: Thanks, this was a really useful perspective on how to approach and understand non-representational work.