Untitled 1988

Sam Francis made this painting, date unknown, with wild gestures and a carnival of colors. Look at the splatters and drips, those loose circular forms… I can almost see him moving around the canvas. Making a painting like this, you have to think on your feet; it’s all trial and error, intuition and responding to the unexpected. I can imagine Francis stepping back, squinting, turning the canvas, letting the painting tell him what it needs. The green shape is like a portal or a frame, holding all those juicy blots and stains of red, yellow, blue, and black. It makes me think of Joan Mitchell, and all those abstract expressionists who weren’t afraid to get messy and push painting to its limits. This piece is part of that ongoing conversation artists have across generations. We inspire each other, steal from each other, and keep the energy flowing. Painting lets us embrace ambiguity, celebrate the unexpected, and find new ways of seeing and feeling the world.