Hydra 1981

Brice Marden made this piece, called Hydra, using wax and pigment on paper. Looking at the surface of the paper, you can see the handmade process, where one area is slightly different from the next, and that this is not a reproduction. It feels so physical, like the paper has been pushed around, scraped, and loved. I'm drawn to the middle panel, the density of the blue, it's not just a flat color, it’s got all this texture, these layers, like sediment building up over time. Then the cream color beneath is a lovely contrast to the blue on top. You see a single dark line, kind of slashing through the space. It’s like a deliberate interruption, making you see the flatness of the paper against this illusion of depth. Marden's work always feels like he's having a conversation with Agnes Martin. Both are really interested in the grid, in process, in how much you can say with the bare minimum. It’s not about perfection, it’s about the beauty of the imperfect.