Untitled 1992

Jill Levine made this untitled painting with watercolor on paper, and what grabs me is how she lets the paint do its thing. The blue blobs are layered, with some edges bleeding softly into the white ground, while the red pops with this unexpected intensity. The textures are quiet, and yet within each shape, there’s a world of subtle variation. Look at that smaller, greyish-blue circle near the bottom – it's like a little planet, and its colour has this beautiful smoky, atmospheric depth. It’s like Levine is saying, hey, let’s see what happens if we just let these colours meet and mingle. This piece makes me think of Agnes Martin, how she lets the simple forms sing with their own quiet energy. There’s a lot of room for interpretation, and that’s what keeps it interesting, isn’t it?