Label TextFrames customarily delineate the boundaries of a painting, creating a four-sided window into an illusionistic world. Mangold’s work subverts this convention, placing a frame-like square into the center of a circular canvas. Instead of using painting as a means to show an image of something else, this technique makes the viewer aware of the painting as a geometric object in its own right. Rather than explore traditional subject matter, Mangold chooses to focus on formal elements, attempting to find a unified balance between line, surface, and color, with no individual factor being more important than another. In the case of this work, the square in the painting’s middle is actually open on two corners. This imperfection, or “distortion” is complemented by the emotional overtones of the somber purple Mangold chose for the canvas.
Published ReferencesAN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.179, color ill. p.178
Published ReferencesAN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.179, color ill. p.178
DimensionsCanvas (diameter): 72 in. (182.9 cm)
Accession Number 1993.18
Classificationspainting
CopyrightARS
