As a visual art student in high school at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, I became infatuated with the work of Piet Mondrian. I liked his earlier, more ambiguous paintings better than his later, purely geometric works.
There was a spiritual warmth to the earlier works that seemed to be missing in the later ones. I think it had to do with the color palettes as well as the imperfection of the geometry he was creating at the time.
I remember seeing these and trying to mimic them in my own work. I remember doing a project at The School of the Arts — a diptych — where I juxtaposed the influences of Piet Mondrian and Francis Bacon (Check back for Part 6 in my “Favorite Famous Artists” series). The two artists’ work couldn’t be more different.
I do still like the geometric, primary works too, though. I guess they just seem a little cold compared side-by-side to the other ones. One thing that redeems some of this later work for me is that although it attempts to be so perfect, the hand is still very apparent. I like this one: it’s a little bit dirty. I’m not sure why that pleases me so!
