Epitaph Painting 5 2001

Brice Marden made "Epitaph Painting 5" with, it seems, a kind of determined meandering. You can see the hand in the wobble of the lines, and in the way that these snaking forms interact with the subtle ground of grey. It's all about the surface here; the opacity of the paint, with these looping ribbons laid over it, feels almost like fresco. Marden's touch is so present - the texture, the small drips, the imperfections that show the painting being made. Take a look at that thicker rust-red line at the bottom right, see how the paint almost buckles? It feels like a drawing made in paint, an elegant doodle writ large. He's got a clear conversation going with Cy Twombly's scribbled paintings, but with a more controlled, restrained sensibility. Ultimately, it's a reminder that art can be about the journey, the exploration, and the beauty found in simple, imperfect gestures.