Steel Grey 1959

Conrad Marca-Relli made this artwork, Steel Grey, out of canvas and oil paint, and you can tell that the canvas has been collaged to create layers. I can imagine Marca-Relli carefully cutting and pasting, layering different shapes of canvas. You can see the shades of gray that give the work its name, but also the olive green sneaking out from underneath. It’s like the painting is breathing, showing off what’s hiding below. I wonder what Marca-Relli was thinking when he added that little black line near the top right? It feels so precise amidst all these floating forms. Maybe it’s a secret, a tiny clue to something bigger. It feels sculptural, almost architectural – like he’s building a world out of these painted shapes. Looking at this makes me think about other artists playing with collage and texture, like maybe some of Kurt Schwitters’s work. You can just see how artists are always riffing off each other, building on ideas, and pushing the boundaries of what a painting can be. It really is a conversation across time.