Landscape 1955

Adja Yunkers made this “Landscape,” with big, bold marks in black and yellow, and the teeniest spot of red, and it feels like he was trying to capture a feeling more than a place. I can imagine him, thinking and re-thinking the composition, making intuitive gestures on the surface. What I love about the process of painting is that it becomes a conversation—the artist makes a mark, the painting responds, and the artist then has to make another move. It’s all about trial, error, and intuition. The black marks feel like they are standing upright, maybe they are trees? And that one red mark… I don’t know, a cardinal perched on a branch? Yunkers’s work reminds me of other abstract painters who were trying to find new ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world. They teach us that art is an ongoing exchange of ideas across time. It’s an embodied form of expression, and embraces ambiguity to allow for multiple readings.