Tekeningen van de oude Ogawa Usen - deel drie 1940

This is part three of Tekeningen van de oude Ogawa Usen, made with ink and colour on paper by Ogawa Usen. Look at the way that block of blue sits, so still, against the fibrous paper. You can almost feel the texture of it. It's like Usen is saying, "Here is blue, and here is paper." He's not trying to trick you or transport you to another world. He's letting the materials speak for themselves. And then, against that blue, the marks that make up the calligraphic elements become foregrounded. That blue rectangle is like a little stage. On it, the artist has arranged a few simple characters, giving them space to breathe. It reminds me of a conversation between Agnes Martin and Brice Marden, that tension between line and plane. It's as if Usen is showing us that art is not about grand gestures, but about the quiet consideration of space and form.