Week #26, Black & White V

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Untitled (Black Abstract with Rectangles and Circles) recto and verso, 1988, Ink wash on paper, 7” x 8 ¾”

This final piece from the series of black & white works is also from the 1980s. A little added bonus with this work is that it is double sided. This wouldn’t be the first time that Dusti Bongé painted something on both sides of a piece of paper or even a canvas. The side Dusti ultimately considered the better work is the one she initialed and dated “DB ‘88” in the lower right.

The compositions on both sides of the paper comprise primarily a few loose meandering lines that cross and intersect one another, creating oddly defined interior spaces in between. Also, in each case there are two additional marks that do not directly engage with the main structure of meandering lines but rather stay outside of it. In the recto composition this set of secondary lines seems to literally underscore the main tangled configuration, while in the verso image these lines appear to partially envelop it.

The recto composition, which Dusti ultimately chose, indeed offers a better-balanced whole. Part of that is the result of the fact that Dusti plays with the width of her marks as the lines crisscross and dance with one another. The heavier marks occur mostly vertically or horizontally creating a rhythmic arrangement. The verso composition is more haphazard, not offering a moment of rest for the eye.

An interesting effect of Dusti having worked both sided of the paper is that the darkness of the composition en verso bleeding through the thin paper creates a cool, pale gray shadow in the background of the black & white recto composition.