Untitled 1979

This untitled artwork was created by Albert Rafols-Casamada using paint on canvas. These are traditional art materials, but what makes the work so compelling is how the artist has handled them. The canvas has an inherent texture, which Rafols-Casamada has used to great effect. Look closely, and you’ll see how the weave subtly interacts with the paint, especially in the large central area. It's not a smooth, flat surface, but rather a field of subtle variation. Around this central field, the artist has built a kind of architectural structure of vertical forms. These have a more concrete presence, with drips and bleeds of pigment showing the artist's process. These elements weren’t made with high-tech processes, but rather with the controlled hand of an accomplished painter. Yet, in so doing, Rafols-Casamada gives us a window onto not just his own actions, but the possibilities that reside in the simplest of materials. It’s a quiet assertion of the value of labor and the potential for meaning in all materials.