One of artist Carmen Herrera's latest bold, minimalist works takes center stage in a Royal Ballet production

The end Cuban-American Artist Carmen Herrera liked to describe each painting as a battle she used to win. It was a philosophy worthy of someone who, despite creating immaculate minimal abstractions for four decades, only received recognition from the art world in the late 1980s. ‘Herrera (she died in 2022 in 106 years old) was the ballet set she created for Untitled, 2023.

The ballet debuted in London royal opera June 9. Burberry’s creative director Daniel Lee designed the dancers’ costumes and was inspired by Herrera’s bold minimalism. He affixed dancers at irregular angles of green and white. The lines on their bodies stretch, bend, fade, then disappear – a thing of unpredictable movement against the still image of Herrera’s set (enhanced by Lucy Carter’s delicate lighting design ).

The gallery’s white walls may claim to have immersive qualities, but Untitled, 2023 went better, offering the stage as a vast Herrera canvas and the dancers as geometric elements moving endlessly across it. It is essentially a journey into the mind of Herrera, a journey which, in whatever variation or form displayed, constant flair for precise lines.

Carmen Herrera, Blanco y Verde (1966-1967) sold for $2.9 million at Miss Porter's School "By women for the women of tomorrow" benefit auction at Sotheby's New York, a world record for the artist. Courtesy of Sotheby's New York.

Carmen Herrera, White and Green (1966-1967) sold for $2.9 million at Miss Porter’s School’s ‘By Women for Tomorrow’s Women’ benefit auction at Sotheby’s New York, a world record for the artist. Courtesy of Sotheby’s New York.

The set appeared to be an extension of Herrera’s famous “Blanco y Verde” series (1959 to 1971) in which green triangles of varying sizes rest in white space, an interaction the artist describes as creating “a field of strength”. There were 14 works in the series, most of which are now housed in large American museumsand here Herrera offers a 15th, an elongated triangle accompanied by a white sculpture on the left.

The moving dance was choreographed by Wayne McGregor. “It’s a work of innovation, movement and piercing beauty,” he said. “Together we honor Carmen while forging our own evolutionary path.” You sense Herrera would agree.

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