Untitled 1972

Editor: This Untitled work by Richard Smith in the Tate collection is interesting. It looks like a mixed media work on graph paper, with this hazy blue square hovering near the top. What can you tell me about the artist's process here? Curator: Smith was interested in collapsing the boundaries between painting and sculpture, which is evident in the materials he chose and how he manipulates them. The graph paper acts as a foundation, a pre-printed structure, against which he builds his image. Editor: So, the materials themselves are a commentary? Curator: Precisely. The contrast between the planned graph paper and the freehand application of colour invites us to consider not only the artistic labor involved but how mass-produced goods, like the graph paper, enter the creative process. It makes you question the means of production. What does that say about the value we place on art? Editor: I see what you mean! It really makes you think about the labor and materials that go into artmaking.