Micro-Painting 1968

This micro painting by Gene Davis features a hard-edged circle and dot of colour, centered on a ground of earthy green. It’s like a tiny universe that the artist has conjured into being. I imagine Davis making this. Perhaps he’s looking closely at the world, maybe he's trying to reduce the whole history of abstract painting into a concentrated form. The paint looks applied in thin layers, but it seems to have a physical presence, like a small object found and transformed. That central dot, it's like the painting’s heartbeat, resonating outward into the pale blue circle that surrounds it. The green ground feels weighty, dense. It reminds me of the earth and the sky together. Davis often worked with stripes, exploring colour relationships. With this painting, he’s simplified his approach, focusing on these fundamental shapes and colours. And so we ask ourselves, how much can an artist say with just a little? There's a conversation happening here, between Davis and other artists, between colours and forms, between the artist and you. Painting, after all, is just a form of expression.