Exposed Painting Ivory Black 2007

Callum Innes made this painting with ivory black pigment, coaxing tones from dark to light, using erasure as a kind of brushstroke. It looks like he sets up a situation – a tension between control and accident. I love how Innes lets the paint thin out, almost like watercolor, letting the weave of the canvas peek through. You can imagine him, in the studio, carefully pouring solvent onto the surface, watching as the black pigment starts to dissolve and run. Is it scary? Liberating? I would be nervous, but it's a bold move. The dark rectangle is solid, but the wiped sections feel open and airy. They remind me of Gerhard Richter's squeegee paintings, where chance and gesture collide. It makes you realize that painting is a conversation, not just with yourself, but with all the painters who came before, a dialogue that stretches across time.