Heather Zises reviews two recent exhibitions Sanford Wurmfeld: Color Visions 1966 – 2013 at the Hunter College/Times Square Gallery and Sanford Wurmfeld: Light & Dark at Minus Space.

Zises writes that “The key to appreciating these works has much to do with the figure-ground relationship of form and color. For each painting, Wurmfeld maps out a set of colors that are distinct in hue, value, and saturation. This combination causes a perpetual figure-ground interchange as one’s eye progresses along the width of the canvas, achieving an overall spatial dynamism. Subsequently, each grid becomes a matrix of possibility pushing the absolute limits of color… From a distance, Wurmfeld’s paintings appear deceptively monochromatic (high color assimilation) and seem to float in cloud of luminosity. As the viewer approaches the paintings, the eye begins to fixate upon intricate details of meticulously drawn grids while scanning a gorgeous interplay of color. “