Touched Red (working proof 2) 1991

Richard Diebenkorn made this print called “Touched Red (working proof 2)” using etching and aquatint. It’s all blacks and whites with a dominant rectangular shape taking up the majority of the picture plane. I feel for Diebenkorn wrestling with this plate, scraping and scrubbing away at the surface, maybe trying to find a hidden structure. The surface looks worn with the memory of labor. He’s leaving traces behind. I see a possible interior, maybe a doorframe, or a window. I’m not sure. But that's the thing about Diebenkorn, isn't it? He’s always in between things: abstraction and representation, inside and outside, gesture and geometry. He was always so good at conjuring up a mood, and a particular kind of light. You know, I think about Cy Twombly and how Diebenkorn looked at him. They both shared that amazing, idiosyncratic touch with a world of feeling in it. It's like a conversation between painters, each inspiring the other to see and feel in new ways.