20 Part Line Painting 1991

Alan Charlton made this "20 Part Line Painting" with I guess paint. And twenty vertical bars. I think about the labour that’s gone into it. So much careful measuring and taping. Such clean edges. Maybe Alan was trying to make something that has no feeling. A way of saying that feelings are beside the point. You know? Or maybe he felt a lot making this painting. Trying so hard to be perfect. I know that feeling. It’s like the surface is a mirror of the care. It is so immaculate. I mean, the bars are not all the same! If you look closely, you’ll notice the lines subtly shift and change. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin. How she managed to wring so much emotion out of the grid. I mean, it takes a certain kind of bravery to make a painting like this. To commit to something so simple. It’s like saying, "This is enough." You know, there is beauty even in the most minimal of gestures.