Equal and Unequal

Mediums: oil, masonite.
Location: The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation (Bethany, Connecticut, the USA).

The painting is one of Albers’ spatial experiments, which he was interested in throughout his career. The painting consists of two abstract forms, as if floating in space and seeming to be reflections of each other. In fact, these images are not identical; they are absolutely different and consist of regular geometric shapes: triangles, squares and trapezoids. These figures are constructed to create an illusion of volume and depth, which is unstable and either disappears, or appears again depending on the angle of view, lighting and time during which the viewer looks at the picture. The structure of the paint is also unusual; it has a thick texture and resembles black granite.