Untitled (Black Wall Painting)
Ford Beckman (1952–2014)

 

Ford Beckman, Untitled (Black Wall Painting), 1988, acrylic, wax and industrial varnish on canvas on plywood. Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano. Collezione Cantone Ticino. Gift Panza di Biumo

‘Strong, intense and pounding are visual demands that I will never relinquish.’

Since the beginning of his career, Ford Beckman drew inspiration from minimalist and suprematist geometric abstraction. In the diptych Untitled (Black Wall Painting), a yellowish-white border delimits two black squares. The matte black prominently contrasts with the tainted white, resulting in a pictorial transposition of existential dualities: light and shadow, life and death, boldness and fear. The interplay between profound black and radiant white also creates a sublime and enigmatic tension. The energy seemingly residing within the paint bearing the traces of its application enfolds viewers in an almost spiritual experience.