Episcopalian Pandemonium 1976

Pat Lipsky made this painting, Episcopalian Pandemonium, with what looks like oil on canvas. Look at the way she’s built up the grid in these delicious squares. I wonder what it was like to make this painting. A square at a time, what was she thinking? Did she stand back, squint, and reassess? I can feel the back and forth, the adjustments, the doing and undoing. The paint isn’t particularly thick, but I can feel the surface. It’s the kind of painting that’s so simple, it’s complex. Each painted tile is like a brushstroke in another artist’s painting. It reminds me a bit of Agnes Martin’s grids, but warmer. And it calls to mind the way that Blinky Palermo played with color. These artists are all in conversation. It makes you think that painting is a kind of embodied expression, isn't it? It's an ongoing exchange of ideas, and that's exciting.