Untitled IV 1979

Dan Christensen made this untitled work with paint, and maybe some pencils or crayons. Look at the way the colours interact; that hazy pink, the soft teal, and a dash of orange and blue create this weird, soft light effect, that reminds me of those sunsets you get when there's a heatwave. There's a looseness to the way the colours are applied; see how the big block of teal paint in the middle has ragged edges that almost look like they've been torn? The way Christensen layers these colours and forms, it's almost like he's inviting us to witness the unfolding of the painting, that artmaking is not just about the final product, but the process of getting there. This piece reminds me a little of Helen Frankenthaler's soak-stain paintings, where she would pour thinned paint onto unprimed canvas, letting the colours bleed and merge. But where Frankenthaler often went big, Christensen keeps things intimate, playful, and loose. It's a reminder that art doesn't have to be serious; it can be a space for experimentation, for embracing the unexpected, and for finding beauty in ambiguity.