Pachinko, 1989

Al Held was an American artist best known for his complex cube like structures he painted in brightly geometric forms. He studied art at the Art Students' League in New York and Paris. In the 1950's he returned to New York and began painting in an abstract expressionist manner. He then ventured into a more geometric style with his paintings of cube like structures in the 1960's. These structures were painted with heavy layers of paint so it would stand out from the surface. Al Held was a prominent figure with second generation Abstract Expressionists, but he was persistent in his exploration of the potential illusion within abstraction. His attitude of theories often defied many of the labels placed on this generation. His paintings had sharpened contours, geometric forms and an enlarged scale. His earlier work was generally done in black and white and he began to explore the aspect of three dimensional in the late 1970's. Al Held transferred his preference to acrylic paints in the 1980's and created brightly colored geometric shapes in the context of space. His art was considered "concrete abstractions" as he challenged flatness he saw in his painting styles, taking apart pictures with the suggestion of deep space and three dimensional forms. Al Held would then add eye-popping color to his images on canvas. Al's depiction of his work was, "We are not going to get rid of chaos and complexity, but we can find a way to live with them." Al's forms defined clean precision, but he began his paintings with loose improvisation and would later erase the preliminary lines with an electric sander. He received numerous awards including the Frank G. Logan Medal from the Art Institute of Chicago, a six month residency at the American Academy in Rome and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. (Artist website)