Untitled #156 1971

Gene Davis made this stripe painting, Untitled #156, with many different hues, like he’s making music. It has lots of horizontal lines, like a minimalist Agnes Martin, but the colors are pure pop! I can imagine him thinking about how colors vibrate next to each other, the push-pull of warm and cool tones. Maybe he's thinking of Barnett Newman's zips, but instead of one stripe, he makes many. I see a thin brown line next to a pale lilac that sings a sweet song. There’s a whole language in how each stripe touches the next, a symphony of color. It reminds me of Ellsworth Kelly, or even Op artists like Bridget Riley, but Davis’s stripes have a relaxed, casual feel, like he’s just having fun. He's part of an ongoing conversation, riffing on other painters, and inviting us to listen in. Painting is a language of feeling, not just seeing!