Cole Morgan | New York, United States
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Missing 3, 1990
mixed media on canvas, 150x150cmMissing 3 balances between order and seeming randomness, seeming because the composition has been carefully orchestrated by the artist. Seven shapes that look like scraps of paper have been arranged in a line and in the depth of the painting, a net of fine horizontal lines can be observed on the rich orange background. Even though painted along the top edge of the painting, it is the sequence of numbers that draws us in.
The title of the painting alludes to the missing number 3. However, upon closer observation, along three of the picture edges painted scraps of paper can be observed; might these allude to the missing number three, or is Morgan alluding to the two red triangles that could refer to an invisible third one, or perhaps the blue one lower down the painting? This is up for the viewer to decide.