Alex Ward left one block hanging in mid-air, and then made sure you wouldn’t notice for a few seconds.
Top right. A slab of ochre, sitting out past everything that could possibly be holding it. Nothing underneath it. Nothing behind it. It simply stops there.
Why it doesn’t fall
Look down and to the left, at the terracotta. That is the answer. The two colours are close enough to be related and far enough apart to pull, and the ochre is held up by nothing but that. No beam, no bracket. Just colour agreeing with colour across an empty gap.
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. The block stops looking like it is about to drop and starts looking like it was always going to stay. Impossible, but settled. That switch in your head is the whole piece.
Ward builds this way every time. Hard edges, an underlying grid, flat colour with no shading to fake depth. Structures that follow their own rules exactly and could never be built. One critic called it “geometric abstraction, defying both physics and expectation.” Another said it captivates, which it does, quietly, from across the room.
Living with it
It behaves. It is the picture on the wall that makes the rest of your furniture look deliberate. Hallways, offices, the space above a desk. People who like order look at it and relax. People who don’t look at it and start hunting for the support.
Sizes and the plain numbers
Portrait. Printed on heavyweight archival matte paper, so those edges stay razor-clean and no lamp or window bounces back at you. Made to order, a high quality print of a digital work, and it comes edge to edge with no white border, so it fits any frame you already own or pins up bare and still looks right.
11×14 in (28×36 cm) is $49. The 16×20 (41×51 cm) is $79 and it is what most people choose. 18×24 (46×61 cm) is $109 for a taller wall. Shipping is free in the continental US, rolled in a tube.
One honest thing
There is no story in it. No place, no figure, nothing to point at. If you want a picture of something, this isn’t it.
If you want a wall that finally makes sense, take it home. Or see what else Alex has built and follow him, and the next one will reach you first.
One is a piece. Two is a set. Three is a collection.
Almost nobody stops at one. A second work by the same hand turns a wall into a pairing. A third turns it into something you chose rather than something you bought. There are 6 other works by Alex Ward available.
When Everything Aligns – Alex Ward | Fine Art Print Price range: $29 through $69
Afternoon Filling the Wall – Alex Ward | Digital Download$19
Interval Proving Structure – Alex Ward | Fine Art Print Price range: $129 through $229
Boundary Agreed Upon – Alex Ward | Digital Download$19
Single Pane Dissenting – Alex Ward | Fine Art Print Price range: $129 through $229
Projecting Over Nothing – Alex Ward | Fine Art Print Price range: $129 through $229
