Frederick Hammersley

Please see Savings & loan, 2001, by Frederick Hammersley at the Menil.

I feel everything about that heavy white weight the abstract figure in this painting carries. The colors of this painting, the cherrier colors balanced with the grey, creates a feeling of teetering that draws my eye. The black with its sturdiness, anchoring the figure, swathing its head, and that fade into blue. The figure is walking away, toward a bright orange plane. I imagine they’re leaving a frozen lake and overcast skies with whatever they have packed, saved, to carry. I hope for them. I wish for the certainess that an artist must have to decide this color ends here, this shape curves like this.