Tegn III 1966

Jan Groth made this drawing, Tegn III, probably with crayon or pastel on paper. What an incredible drawing! The artist seems to have arrived at it through trial, error, and intuition. It looks like they were thinking through their hand. I'm in awe of Groth who managed to evoke so much with so little. A minimal line becomes a figure of contemplation. It reminds me of Cy Twombly or Brice Marden, who also explored the poetic possibilities of line. It is such a beautiful and ambiguous form, hovering between abstraction and figuration. I imagine Groth’s hand moving slowly, deliberately across the paper, each mark a record of a fleeting moment of perception. What does it depict? A person? An object? An idea? I wonder if he started with a clear image in mind, or did the form emerge organically, shaped by the push and pull of the creative process? Artists are always in an ongoing conversation. Each mark and line are not simply marks, they embody a philosophy, a way of seeing and being in the world.