Mellow Middle Period LeWitt

 

Mass MOCA, in North Adams, Mass., is a huge complex of converted industrial buildings, with more art than you can see in a day. Knowing that, we made it our first priority to see their Sol LeWitt retrospective, which is displayed across three floors of one of the buildings, with the floors corresponding to early, middle, and late LeWitt. All told, they are able to display an incredible amount of his mural-sized works, thanks to an ingenious configuration of interior walls. Our favorite was floor two, middle period LeWitt, which corresponds to his move to Italy in the early 80s, which impacted his aesthetic in a pleasing way. The Mass MOCA website tells us that in Italy, he "began to use India ink and colored ink washes. The ink is applied with soft rags and dabbed onto the walls. The technique gives the works a fresco-like quality." So beautiful: the colors are at once vivid yet laid back and mellow. A perfect combination. LeWitt's pieces are painted by locally-recruited artists, who respond to his written instructions. So a lot of his creative work happens during the planning phase. He came up with a spectrum of colors that could be used in endless combinations. The harmony of colors in the mural shown here speaks right to my soul. In fact, being in the room with his work, felt like attending a performance of a symphony orchestra. I could feel it in my body.