In arguing against the “dictatorial perpendicular” and the commercialization of writing, Benjamin enacts a future argument made by the art critic Rosalind Krauss on the vertical and horizontal. In Heidenreich’s later work and particularly with his Alaska series, his paintings convey this horizontality: they are no longer the vertical, bounded plane of small apartment windows, vision scratched out or covered over but instead spread organically, open up fissures, offer limitless territories, and propel the viewer into the infinity of horizontal space.

We enter, fleeing is a series of essays by Carl Heidenreich Foundation director Christopher Squier considering postwar painting and abstraction in the context of diaspora, exile, and migration. Part two of the series looks at the use of text in Heidenreich's paintings in the context of Benjamin's notion of the "dictatorial perpendicular." Although it occurs sparingly throughout his body of work, text is often used to signal political urgency, a rupture in everyday life, or violent and disorienting experiences.

We enter, fleeing is a series of essays and blog entries by Carl Heidenreich Foundation director Christopher Squier drawing inspiration from the work of the literary critic Walter Benjamin alongside discourses in visual culture and contemporary art. The series considers postwar painting and abstraction in the context of diaspora, exile, and migration.