Column Structure VIII (Robert Mangold, 2006)

Mangold’s exploration of the possibilities of geometric abstraction reaches back to the 1960s, when the artist emerged as a significant Minimalist painter. Much of his work has interrogated the relationship of the part to the whole and perceptions of incomplete design, often with architectural references. Column Structure VIII belongs to an extended series of narrow columnar compositions animated with elegant hand-drawn curves. In paintings like this one, the artist disrupts the symmetry of the column by adding geometric appendages. Straight lines in pencil subdivide each section, while curving ones unify the overall composition as they intersect with the grid and with the painting’s edges at critical junctures. The distinctive orange color seen here is one the artist employed often over the course of his career.