Wall Stencil c. 1939

Michael Lauretano made this Wall Stencil, but we don’t know exactly when or how, though it looks like it was made with stencils and paint. I love that you can see the hand in this work, not because it’s expressive or painterly, but because it’s so clearly made using a process. The paint isn’t trying to trick you, it's very matte and sits on the surface, it's not trying to look like something else, it's just pigment on paper. Look at how the shapes of the leaves are repeated, they are like a catalogue of leaf shapes. The red accent on the tulip-like vertical pattern is so simple but really sings. It makes me think of the work of Ree Morton, who was making these kinds of simple, handmade paintings and constructions in the 1970s. There’s a kind of anti-style to both, a refusal of skill that I find really appealing. It’s an invitation to be more direct and simple in your own art-making, and to embrace the potential of process.