Ohne Titel (mit rotem Strich) 1970

This untitled work with a red stripe is by Blinky Palermo. The canvas, mostly white, hosts a bold red vertical line and a grey brushstroke. I'm seeing the ghost of a landscape here, or the memory of one. When you start to paint you never know where you are going to end up. It’s a process of being in the studio, shifting things around, trying things out, not being afraid to make mistakes, and learning through intuition. Perhaps Palermo was playing in his studio, moving things around until something emerged he liked. The red and grey play off each other in a funny way. That red line is so decisive, so sure of itself, while the grey is more ambiguous, more searching. It is as if Palermo were saying, “Can these two things coexist?” It reminds me of Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, and other artists working in that same vein. Artists are always riffing off each other, in conversation across time.