The title Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow & Blue³ references a work by Barnett Newman titled Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow, and Blue? (1966). Irwin states that his work "is not an homage to Barnett Newman, but an attempt to elaborate on what he did."

At the time that Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow & Blue³ was created, the use of enamel paint on honeycomb aluminum was a new departure for Irwin. The enameled, honeycomb aluminum panels function as colored mirrors whose complex reflections enable the viewer to see the world in a new light while at the same time spark interlaced art historical connotations, from color theory to mid-20th century Modernist Abstraction.

The location of Southern California is primary to Irwin’s work. In this interview from Modern Art Notes, Irwin discusses the unique light of Los Angeles.

Opened in January 2007, MCASD's downtown Joan and Irwin Jacobs Building galleries occupy the former baggage building of the historic Santa Fe Depot railway station (built in 1915). The vast, light-filled, high-ceiling spaces are particularly well-suited to show Irwin's work to its best advantage.

Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow & Blue³ was first presented at PaceWildenstein, New York in December 2006. Irwin created a larger version of this work for his exhibition Robert Irwin: Primaries and Secondaries, on view at MCASD October 21, 2007 through February 23, 2008.

The Light and Space movement began in Southern California in the 1960s, fomenting many of the most vanguard practices engaging young artists today. Robert Irwin, Maria Nordman, James Turrell, and Douglas Wheeler are among a cadre of American artists who pioneered a distinctive approach to making art, defined by experiential existence and manifested in ephemeral installations.

When this book first appeared in 1982, it introduced readers to Robert Irwin, the Los Angeles artist "who one day got hooked on his own curiosity and decided to live it." The book chronicles three decades of conversation between Lawrence Weschler and Irwin.

Piet Mondrian (March 7, 1872–February 1, 1944) was a Dutch painter most known for his grid-like compositions using primary colors. Visit this link to make your own digital Mondrian composition.