Hard Edge Lines: Reclaiming plasticity in the time of segregation, “Ribonned II” (1987) by Sam Gillian
Written by Nínive Vargas de la Peña for Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated. March 2022.
Hard edge lines of color, chromatic washes and monochromatic fields of expression characterize a prolific period of experimentation in the beginning of Sam Gilliam’s career. A testament of his early ventures into geometric meditation, lasting from 1963-1967, Sam Gilliam presents in Ribboned II one of the first abstractions of his career, showing a close study of Gene Davis, Kenneth Noland, and his own incursion into the Washington School of Color. Three green diagonal striped lines over a monochromatic black field provide us a window into Gilliam’s nascent leaps into color theory and two-dimensional design, decisively away from any sort of figuration.
“I see the most critical issue in painting today as one of continual renewal without repetition or imitation.”
Sam Gilliam
Breaking
Color and Space
Sam Gilliam. Ribonned II (1965). Private Collection.The inherent symmetry of the present piece, along with other artworks such as Long Green (1965) and Red Stretch, will instigate his incursion into the manipulation of linen, folding it against itself as to reproduce the vertical and angular forms without the assistance of a brush. Indeed, these early explorations into abstraction by the artist quickly developed into the foundations of his most famous achievement in 1968, the suspended style of painting in an unstretched canvas as a final form of representation; known by many as his 'beveled edge paintings.' A beacon of unhinged experimentation since the beginning of his career, Gilliam provides in this early piece a window into the foundational elements that gestated his long standing contributions to the subsequent developments of abstraction.
““There was a sense of being associated with a very radical group within Washington. Because abstract painting wasn’t that accepted, there was this personal feeling that your understanding of it had a necessary significance […] Your understanding of it made you part of the rest of the community. For the first time I felt like an artist ought to feel. Not only did I create an image, but my personality took hold. It became very important to become known as one of the youngest members of the Washington Color Field School.”
— Sam Gilliam
