Emotion (Studies II) 1974

Gunter Fruhtrunk made "Emotion (Studies II)" with paint, and like, what even is emotion? I mean, really? Anyway, I'm picturing him carefully taping off those crisp lines, one by one. It’s a whole field of red with these interjecting diagonal stripes. Was he listening to music? Was he pissed off? I can almost feel the way the tape pulls against the surface, the way the colors snap against each other. It's almost like he's trying to say something very controlled about something very uncontrolled. This feels like the kind of painting that’s in conversation with Al Held or Carmen Herrera, artists who were also interested in hard lines. It makes me wonder if painting is less about making something new, and more about an ongoing conversation that artists are constantly having with each other.