Ohne Titel (für Thordes) 1976

This untitled series of four paintings by Blinky Palermo has these very distinct shapes and a concise colour palette. It's the kind of painting that gets me thinking about the artist's touch. I can almost feel the brushstrokes, the way the paint must have felt gliding onto the surface and how these rectangles emerged as a result of colour and gesture. I imagine Palermo experimenting with different ways of seeing, pushing the boundaries of abstraction. I wonder, when he was making these, was he thinking about colour theory, or was he simply responding to the joy of putting paint on paper? Each stroke seems deliberate, yet spontaneous, as if the painting is coming alive through the act of making. The red and the green balance each other so perfectly. Palermo was part of a generation of painters, like Gerhard Richter, who were also searching for new modes of expression, in conversation with the previous generation like Beuys. This ongoing dialogue between artists across time, inspiring one another's creativity is what keeps pushing painting forward.