Untitled 1973

This Untitled piece was made by Norman Bluhm sometime in the twentieth century, and it looks to me like he made it fast. Look at the urgency in those strokes! Bluhm, like me, uses the physicality of paint to communicate; here, it's all about the stark contrast and interplay between black and white. The black is so dense, so absolute, it almost feels like a void swallowing the canvas. Then, within that darkness, those curvilinear forms dance in white, creating a sense of tension and release. There's a particular stroke on the right, a black swoosh that cascades like an unruly waterfall, and then splatters into tiny dots, breaking down the solid form into chaos. It reminds me a little bit of Franz Kline's work; both artists are masters of gesture, but where Kline is architectural, Bluhm is more bodily, more expressive. Ultimately, this piece invites us to embrace the unknown. There is no right or wrong interpretation. It is what it is, and it is beautiful.