There is something about geometric art that catches my eye and pulls me in. Maybe it's the simplicity of shapes and lines, maybe because it's immediately satisfying with nothing to figure out, or maybe it resonates with the way I experience the world.
A few years ago, I saw an exhibit called Slip Zone: a New Look at Postwar Abstraction from the Americas and East Asia at the Dallas Museum of Art. Naively, I had only ever considered "postwar" art in terms of the new abstract art movements in New York, as the center of the art world shifted from Paris after WWII. But of course, art was being made in other parts of the world during this time period. New movements also popped up in South America. This is where I learned about Brazilian artist Lygia Pape.
This piece is called Livro Noite et Dia (Book of Night and Day). Each wood square has a shape cut out, then the shape is reattached to the square creating a unique design. This collection of shapes is only part of Livro Noite et Dia, which consists of other similar groups, each exercising the same process - shapes cut out of squares reattached to themselves in grey, black and white.
Here are some others I found on the internet:
Aren't they lovely? I feel like this process could go on indefinitely. It's beautiful and simple, but there is also a story that flows through the piece as your eyes go from square to square. I hope to find another collection somewhere else and see what the next chapter has to say.