Diary Painting #28 - Clouds and 4 Circles (Detail) 1973

Robert Huot made this painting, ‘Diary Painting #28 - Clouds and 4 Circles (Detail),’ and what strikes me most are the dominant gestural marks. It's kind of a monochromatic palette, mostly grays and blacks with touches of red. I can just imagine the act of painting itself, how this artwork came into being, shifting and emerging through, I don’t know, maybe trial, error, and intuition. The artist creates a space of inquiry for himself and the viewer. What might Huot have been thinking when he made it? It looks like he was really going for it, you know? So spontaneous, you can almost feel the energy and, let's be honest, some of the anxiety too. I think that the various forms of painting offer us different ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world. Maybe it was the work of other painters that pushed Huot, inspired him, in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring creativity.