ACT English OG Test 2 - Chords of Color

Questions 61-75 are based on the following passage.

Chords of Color

Some viewers see the paintings of abstract artist James Little as impersonal, discordant rainbows. Others see them as minimalistic distillations of Q61 emotion, in other words, they are metaphors for Little's feelings about social issues and historical events. He paints large-scale patterns of Q62 shapes-mostly triangles and narrow rectangles in vibrant contrasting hues. His paintings explore the ambiguity of space, the energy of movement, and the coming together of unlikely elements. Q63 But his subject he says is color.64

In 2011, working out of his studio in Brooklyn, New York, Little is painting on canvas using his own blends of beeswax and oil paint. He applies at least fifteen layers of Q65 these paints that he blended himself to achieve a thick, smooth, color-soaked, luminescent surface. Most of his paintings are Q66 voluminous, about six feet by eight feet. To create sharp visual breaks and clean edges of color in these expansive works, he paints slashing diagonal lines and rays.

In his 2005 painting Bittersweet Victory, Q67 by all means, the canvas is Q68 bisected by a vertical, beige line. On the left half, three orange triangles in a row, each one Q69 which stretched from the bottom to the top of the Q70 canvas's left half, angle slightly to the right on a purple background. On the right half, three vertical bands of dark green, one edge of each band slanting to create a point that touches the top of the canvas, Q71 cuts through a lime-green background. Little explains that the internal spaces in his paintings (created by lines and blocks of color) need to play off of each other in a way that lends rhythm and unity Q72 to the whole work. The effect is Q73 much like something that would remind you of a perfect jazz collaboration.Q74

One of Little's favorite assessments of his work came from a woman who told him that his paintings are optimistic. Little believes the bold, positive energy infusing his work comes from what he observes around him. His paintings reflect what he considers the essence of our experiences as human beings. The malleable nature of space, the surprising shifts, but, in the end, a balance.

Question 61