There are moments in art history when representation gives way to something less literal, yet more expansive. Abstraction - whether gestural, atmospheric, or rigorously composed - invites us to look without the need to name. It opens a space where feeling precedes recognition, and where interpretation becomes deeply personal. Since the early 20th century, abstract art has played a defining role in reshaping how we understand painting. From the radical departures of Kandinsky and Malevich to the material explorations of post-war artists, abstraction has continually challenged the idea that art must depict the visible world. Instead, it proposes that rhythm, colour, texture, and gesture can carry meaning just as powerfully.

To live with abstract art is to live with something that evolves. Unlike figurative works, which often settle into familiarity, abstraction resists finality. It shifts with light, with mood, with time. A painting becomes less an image and more a presence, something that quietly alters the atmosphere of a room. In this spirit, we are currently reflecting on two artists whose practices, though distinct, embody the enduring vitality of abstraction.

Larry Poons (b. 1937), a key figure in post-painterly abstraction, has spent decades exploring the expressive potential of colour and movement. His work Cherry Bobalink (2021) is a striking example of his later practice, where layered surfaces and fluid gestures create a sense of both spontaneity and control. The painting feels alive, its chromatic intensity and sweeping forms suggesting a kind of visual improvisation, as if the act of painting itself remains visible within the finished work.

Gerhard Richter (b. 1932), by contrast, approaches abstraction through a process that is at once systematic and unpredictable. His P08–P11 portfolio (2014) reflects his ongoing investigation into the relationship between chance and intention. Using techniques that involve dragging and layering paint across the surface, Richter produces compositions that are both structured and elusive. Each print carries the trace of movement, of decisions made and undone, resulting in images that seem to hover between order and dissolution.

What unites these artists is not a shared style, but a shared commitment to pushing painting beyond its conventions. Their works do not ask to be understood immediately. Instead, they reward sustained looking, offering new nuances over time. In bringing abstraction into the home, one invites a kind of openness. These works do not dictate meaning; they create space for it. They remind us that art needs not explain itself to be deeply felt, and that sometimes, the most compelling experiences are those that remain just beyond words.

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Warm regards,
Weng Contemporary

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