Untitled (ABC with Yellow and Green) 1967

John Altoon made this painting with big, gestural marks and a palette of yellow, green, and blue – and I can just imagine the act of painting itself, the shifting and emerging, the trial and error, the intuition. I sympathize with Altoon here – what was it like to create? What was he thinking? The paint looks pretty thin, and these elements shape my experience, contributing to the emotional resonances of the work. I particularly notice the blue gesture that slashes across the canvas – it communicates feeling, intention, meaning. This piece relates to other abstract painters, all in ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting is such an embodied form of expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.