Small Red 1980

Richard Diebenkorn made this print, Small Red, at some point in his career, and you can see how the process of artmaking is right there on the surface. I love the directness of the mark making; you can sense the artist working and reworking the composition. Looking closely, the texture is incredible, right? The red isn't just one flat color, it's layered with so much variation, like looking at a weathered wall. And see the way the smaller red square sits on top, it's almost like a little window. That white line peeking out underneath, it's a quiet moment, a little surprise. The physicality of the medium is so present. Diebenkorn’s process is almost like a conversation with the materials themselves. He's not afraid to let the process show. You can see this in the work of other abstract expressionists, like Helen Frankenthaler, who let the paint soak into the canvas, staining it with color. Ultimately, there is more than one way to engage with abstraction, ambiguity and interpretation.