East Journey 1968

Curator: Here, we have Friedel Dzubas’s “East Journey” from 1968, a captivating acrylic on canvas work. Dzubas, a key figure in Colour Field painting, deployed thin washes of paint that soak directly into the canvas, blurring the distinction between support and surface. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by this feeling of vastness, of serene yet buoyant skies meeting open land. Those simple, soft forms almost feel like gentle hills or drifting clouds, rendered with a childlike clarity. There's a curious stillness to it, though. Curator: Colour Field painting is interesting because of its flatness, right? And often these artists didn’t prime the canvas; instead, they poured diluted acrylic paint directly onto it, controlling its movement only minimally. There's a real focus on process, materiality and allowing the nature of the acrylic medium to speak for itself, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Absolutely, I can see that in "East Journey," the colours seem embedded in the canvas, rather than sitting on top. It’s almost ghostly. Tell me, why “East Journey”? Does it depict a literal landscape, or is it something more abstract? Curator: It's certainly not a literal landscape. I understand "journey" to refer to the emotional or psychological experience rendered through abstract colour relationships. Looking at its creation date in '68, that specific moment saw many painters experiment and innovate new types of making that expanded boundaries between high art and craft traditions. Editor: It does possess that late 60s openness about it, that post-Greenbergian breath of fresh air... And, in this openness and honesty with its materials, the work feels incredibly modern, like a space we're invited to enter and explore on our own terms. What's interesting to me is this thin orange strip just at the upper section. It seems almost accidental! Curator: Perhaps...or maybe not. Such seemingly simple compositional choices could have demanded hours of reflection and decision. We can only begin to analyze these elements that go into making an artistic statement, from canvas to stretcher to brushes...and, perhaps more fundamentally, the marketplace dynamics impacting the type of materials Dzubas and others could buy at the time! Editor: All valid points! Ultimately, regardless of market considerations, what remains with me is a lasting sense of optimism, as though glimpsing dawn after a long night. Curator: Precisely. Its colour palette is so cheerful...