Micro-Painting 1968

Gene Davis made this Micro-Painting with paint on what looks like a small block of wood. It's like he was thinking: how small can I go and still make a statement? The material of the piece, that slightly rough, earthy paint covering the block, makes you want to reach out and touch it. The main colour is this warm, almost terracotta brown, and right in the centre is a small orange dot with a kind of scruffy dark halo around it. This orange circle; it’s so simple, but it pulls you in. It’s not quite perfect; the edges are fuzzy, like the colour is vibrating. Davis, known for his stripe paintings, shows here that even the smallest gesture, the humblest material, can hold a whole world of feeling. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin, in that it has an artlessness that really speaks to a kind of raw, elemental, creative act. It's like a conversation about how much or how little it takes to make a painting.