Ellsworth Kelly distilled his observations into precise shapes, creating an abstract visual language rooted in reality. Comprising of three distinct aluminum elements, Untitled (1982) features a repertoire of shapes that can be seen throughout the artist’s body of work. “My paintings don't represent objects,” Kelly once said. “They are objects themselves and fragmented perceptions of things.” The near two-dimensionality of Untitled belies the fact that each element is placed within a dynamic arrangement, revealing a shifting perspective as one moves around the work. 

Untitled (1996) belongs to what Kelly referred to as his “totem” series, which he realized in a wide variety of materials and shapes. It is composed of two pieces of stainless steel at a right angle. Kelly said, “I have wanted to free shape from its ground, and then work the shape so that it has a definite relationship to the space around it.” The landscape of upstate New York was meaningful for Kelly, who moved to Columbia County in 1970 after establishing his career in Paris and New York City. With his move to the countryside, Kelly began to develop large-scale sculptures outdoors in response to his natural surroundings.