65Grand is one of those out-of-the-way galleries that is better known to artists than to art viewers. It is in a time worn storefront in a not so nice part of Chicago called Humbolt Park. But it is known among emerging and/or somewhat unknown artists as a great place to show. This current exhibition of five abstract paintings by Bob Hooper fits into 65Grand’s approach. Titled “The Prime Numbers,” the paintings are all shaped canvas geometric abstractions, based on the geometric relationship between a circle and a square. Strangely, no reference to prime numbers is made in any of the text connected to the show. Still, Hooper’s work contains no inherent or underlying social imperative or political message—it exists to engage intellectual curiosity and highlight the aesthetic pleasure of these geometric forms.

        A springboard shape for much of this work is the quatrefoil, a grouping of semicircles around a square that is used a great deal in Gothic stained-glass windows. Fragments of this form are to be found in several of the paintings. Second, the other shape that is repeatedly used is the joining of a square and a circle to form a waterdrop. Third, two of the paintings are in the shape of a quarter of a donut, making them look a little like a fan. The overall feeling on confronting these figures is of joy in determining what the geometric relationships are; it is a mathematical puzzle-solving exercise.

        The most striking piece is Interstice, executed in stark black and white. It is fan-shaped with a pattern of squares flanked by black scalloped fields (it looks a little like a skirt). The interplay between the squares and the scalloped edges gives this piece a certain liveliness. The other fan-shaped work, Am abend, da es kühle war (In the evening, since it was cool),. consists of three circles in white and gray interlocked in the center of a black field. They feel like holes in the in the middle of this deep black surface. Both of these pieces have a sense of depth that contradicts the primacy of the surface so prevalent in twentieth-century abstraction—then, illusionary depth was largely forbidden in some circles.

        The other three paintings in the show have the form of a waterdrop. In Cirque, the pointed part of the shape is at the top, and the piece contains the same combination of small circles seen in Am abend, da es kühle war. But here, they are in blue, red, and white—a subtle nod to Mondrian. Filament is a bright yellow with fragments of a barbed quatrefoil rendered in white. A dark green circle centers the composition. It is interesting to note that the top and bottom quatrefoil fragments do not line up; had they, they would have read as a single form. This dislocation brings life to the composition and, along with its bright yellow background, makes it the most engaging of the three teardrops. The third of this series is peach colored with two white barbed quatrefoil segments joined by thick white lines located in an upper corner. For me, this was the least engaging piece in the show; the background color is an unalluring peach, and the quatrefoil segments are statically positioned directly opposite the pointed end of the teardrop. The absolute symmetry of this arrangement deadens the composition.

        It is part of 65Grand’s role to remind us of artists like Bob Hooper who has been making and showing art for more than 40 years. His work does not contain the currently popular—and often contrived—strategy of including some kind of social or political message. Not assaulting the viewer with often manufactured moral imperatives but, instead, focusing on the contemplation and appreciation of pure aesthetics is Hooper’s way of reminding us of the timelessness of art.

Michel Ségard is the Editor in Chief of the New Art Examiner and a former adjunct assistant professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has been a published art critic for more than 45 years and is also the author of numerous exhibition catalog essays.