Reading surfaces

Three paintings, three movements

It is easy to remember a painting by its dominant colour. Following the direction of its marks reveals more: the firmness of an edge, the openness of a transition, the effect of an unfilled interval. Urban Requiem, Firebird and Imperfect Bloom offer three starting points for comparing those differences.

Urban Requiem: interrupted marks

On this largely cream and black surface, marks appear to overlap. The edges of the dark vertical forms disperse in places, while horizontal fragments gather below. The catalogue’s description of heavy impasto directs attention towards paint texture. The surface effect visible in a photograph remains distinct from experiencing the physical painting.

Firebird: the direction of colour

Yellow, red and pink establish a vertical movement against violet. Grey and white passages enter between the stronger colours. Compared with the broken edges of Urban Requiem, the boundaries here are longer and more curved. Looking at the two works in succession reveals where the eye pauses in one and follows a line in the other.

Imperfect Bloom: a horizontal interruption

Dark green and pink areas divide the surface horizontally, joined by burgundy marks. Drips and irregular edges extending into lighter areas interrupt that arrangement. Although the colours read as separate blocks, their transitions keep the composition in motion.

This comparison is an editorial reading of images and catalogue records, rather than an account of studio production. To ask how a particular painting was made, include the work in an enquiry through the form.