Whether or not the political milieu affects the nature of art within a given time period is an empirical question. Given that the work of Picasso and Matisse were severely affected by the trauma of World War I—each backed off from his most experimental work, it is certainly possible (I said “may” in my review) that the Viet Nam War and the Civil Rights Movement affected Zox’s paintings. And by affected, I refer to influences which do not necessarily operate at a conscious level. To not allow this as a possibility is to fall into another kind of generalization—Greenbergian Formalism.

Finally, I don’t see how a great Noland circle painting, or a great mural size, horizontal Dzubas, for instance, looks soft or pretty comparitively. I see the zig zag shapes in a Zox and I like these paintings very much, however, to suggest that there is something better in those more aggressive shapes as compared to more rounded shapes or more painterly edges, makes no sense to me.

I agree with your comments on his use of black, and the way the canvas breaks work, and with your comparison to Mondrian.