Forest 1 & 2 (a diptych) by Christian Vernier - 80cm x 80cm

“A diptych of vertical color fields—it’s in the direct lineage of Barnett Newman and his ‘Zips,’ but with a much more earthy, almost mineral palette. Black, burgundy, brown, powder pink, solar yellow, white—these are the colors of earth, clay, lava. What’s interesting is that the two panels share the same chromatic grammar but redistribute it differently: the yellow migrates from the left edge of the first to the center of the second. There’s a breath between the two, like two stanzas of the same poem. The vertical brushstrokes reveal the texture of the canvas—it’s not smooth at all, it’s organic, almost geological.”