Butterfly 1972

Editor: This is "Butterfly," painted in 1972 by Gene Davis, using acrylic on canvas. The first thing that strikes me is how calming the color palette is, these thin vertical lines. How do you interpret the visual composition of this piece? Curator: The aesthetic impact lies in the orchestration of color and line. Davis's method involves modulating the intervals and hues to create optical rhythms. Note the subtle variations in the vertical stripes; they are not merely decorative. These shifts are calculated, producing an energetic visual field. Consider how the verticality impacts your viewing experience; does it encourage a continuous scanning of the surface? Editor: I see what you mean, it does make my eyes want to travel up and down! It’s hard-edge painting but the colors are soft, not what I typically expect from that movement. Curator: Precisely! Davis is consciously working within and against the established tenets of hard-edge painting. He exploits the optical effects of color interaction. The apparent simplicity belies a rigorous formal investigation. Are we to think of Davis working in relation to Clement Greenberg and "flatness?" Editor: So, it’s less about a literal representation and more about the interplay of form and color on a flat plane. It makes me consider the act of seeing itself. Curator: Indeed. The painting posits the phenomenological experience as primary. Consider too that we have interpreted its title, and how that influences the interaction. Does this additional metadata allow for expanded or divergent readings? Editor: It’s almost meditative in its simplicity. I never would have guessed there was so much going on. Curator: Art is an intersection, not a singular view, between the artwork and the informed, curious beholder.