counters this with an  equally assertive arrangement of the other forms.  The result is a wonderfully engaging piece that manages to tease and please while also providing a contrast to the other paintings.

Although Willis’ explicit presentation of space is the first thing to confront you, other implicit considerations eventually emerge such as his use of contrast as an alternative presentation of spatial relationships. ‘Holes’ of space are created by either light or dark forms. This leads directly to another quality which should be obvious in Willis’ work: these paintings have a lot in common with stained glass windows. It begins with the thick black lines separating the forms. But then notice how the paint handling equally contributes in 

Thornton Willis, Elizabeth Harris Gallery

Thornton Willis, Elizabeth Harris Gallery

suggesting a sense of light streaming through colored glass.  This is even true for many of the dark gray forms which seemly struggle to hold back the illumination.

Finally, as abstractions I’ve always found these paintings to be self possessed of a subtle quality of humor.  If on one hand they relate to the solemnity of stained glass windows (sans the religious references), they also have an oblique tie to animation. It is that same starkness of black lines and the vibrancy of the color and paint that pick up on this. If not exactly animation, perhaps this is better understood as simply creating a dynamic energy that implies a general sense of motion.