Frank Stella, Gobba, zoppa e collotorto, 1985

Student: So, one thing that I notice is, in so—like, it’s very pop-out. It literally pops out. And in some places, the painting is neat, though you can still see the brushstrokes. And then in other places, it looks like he kinda just scooped up a bunch of paint and, like, kinda splattered it on, and then made it neater.

Mark Joshua Epstein: Is this still a painting? What do you guys think?

Student: Well, I think it is still a painting, ‘cause he uses paints, like, everywhere. And a painting could be anything.

Mark Joshua Epstein: So, you’re noticing that there’s a couple of different levels of three dimensions with this painting, right? We have this thing in the background that has this more white and the pink and the yellow that seems like it’s just a—maybe he started with just a painting. And then he’s got this cut-out stuff. And then what you’re noticing, which is really amazing, is that then he uses the paint itself to even be more textural. So, we have all of these levels of three dimensions.

Student: I think it, like, is a painting and a sculpture at the same time, because it’s got a canvas, and it’s got paint on the canvas, so that would technically be a painting. But then it’s got all these structures, like, popping out, which makes it sort of a half-sculpture, because sculpture is made of a totally different material. It’s like this whole thing that’s 3D.

Mark Joshua Epstein: One thing I also wanted to mention is that, in this painting, Frank Stella starts to use what’s called honeycomb aluminum as his support, instead of canvas. So, all of the stuff that we’re looking at is actually on metal, which I think really supports Uma’s idea that we’re between painting and sculpture.