Micro-Painting 1968

Gene Davis made this small but mighty painting with paint on, well, something! The date is unknown. Isn't that liberating? I love how the crusty, almost cake-like surface has been built up with layers and layers of yellow paint. It’s like he was trying to trap sunlight. Then, bam! That stripe of hot pink cuts across, changing everything. It’s a simple gesture, but it's so loaded. It really shows how the material, the texture, the sheer physicality, is so important. It's not just the colours but how they sit there on the support. This makes me think of Agnes Martin, but way more punk. It’s a tiny painting that screams. It refuses to be quiet, or polite. That's what paintings can do, speak volumes in a small space.