Night (Ogham Series) by James Edward Scherbarth

A city at night, from very high up. Or a code nobody has cracked.

Night, from the Ogham Series, is a painting in oil and cold wax on cradle board by James Edward Scherbarth (1949-2021), signed and titled on the reverse. Ogham is an early alphabet of short strokes cut along an edge or line, read today mostly from old inscribed stones, and it gives this series its name. Here a dark grid of incised lines holds hundreds of small cells in deep blue and white, thickly applied. Three gray bars stack at center, sitting across the grid. The edges fade toward black. It is 36 inches wide and 36 high.

Three gray bars and no key.