Sunday Inspiration: Sol LeWitt: Wall Drawing #1136

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There are times when you desperately need something that puts you in a good mood or that inspires you in a positively optimistic way. If you're in such a frame of mind, don't look further than Sol LeWitt's "Wall Drawing #1136". The artwork was recently recreated for the Artist Rooms project at the Turner Contemporary gallery.

LeWitt moved to New York in the '50s, where he also worked as graphic designer before taking an entry-level job at the Museum of Modern Art. He created his first wall drawing in 1968, producing over 1,200 during his career.

For these works of art he painted directly on the surface of a wall, following one main principle, simplicity. Vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines often met and systematically overlapped in serially determined forms in LeWitt's wall drawings.

LeWitt's wall paintings were designed to be physically executed by others: the artist would give instructions for the piece, specifying the scale of form, number and orientation of lines, and the sequencing of colours, allowing for it to be adapted according to the space in which it was going to be shown, so that the same artwork could have been reinvented in each new place and space.

For example "Wall Drawing #1136" - revolving around ideas of geometry, repetition and mathematical precision and featuring a series of curved and vertical bands of brightly coloured acrylic paint applied by hand - was installed at Turner Contemporary over two walls.

This work features visually enticing chromatic and tonal ranges, even though LeWitt himself once stated, "I never tried to arrange the colour or other forms to please the eye. In fact I tried to use the system or randomness to avoid preconceived notions of aesthetic 'beauty' or other colour statement (…) If it turns out to be beautiful, I don't mind."