Sprayed Picture 1965

Charlotte Posenenske made this “Sprayed Picture” using, well, spray paint. And the thing that grabs me about this piece is the texture. Look at how the spray creates this gritty, almost granular surface. It’s not smooth or blended; you can see each tiny droplet of paint, especially in the grey bands, and this gives the whole image a kind of vibrating energy. It’s like she’s capturing a moment of pure potential, where everything is still in flux. Then there’s the yellow. It’s so solid, so defined compared to the greys that are sort of fading at the edges, like they’re not even sure if they want to be there. And that makes me think of Blinky Palermo, who was playing with color in similar ways, trying to find the sweet spot where the material properties of paint meet something else, some ineffable quality that tips the painting into art.