Carbon Black 19 2007

Gregg Renfrow created this painting, Carbon Black 19, using strokes of black and grey. I like to think of painting as a kind of inquiry, so I wonder what Gregg was trying to ask when they were making this? It's interesting to consider the physicality of the medium here: how the texture and surface play with the light, how thin strokes move into thicker applications of colour. I'm curious about how these horizontal gestures communicate meaning to the viewer. Are they restful, or constricting? What kind of feeling do they evoke? Abstract painting is interesting because it relies on ambiguity and uncertainty, and how, as viewers, we come to complete them with our own readings. All artists are in conversation with one another across time, inspiring new readings and new works.