Bird Land 1952

Gene Davis made ‘Bird Land’, using what looks like ink or gouache, back in 1953. The way he’s approached the making of this piece feels really intuitive. It’s like a series of automatic gestures, capturing something fleeting and half-formed. Up close you can see how the stark black lines create bold shapes, contrasted with softer washes of gray. There’s a real physicality to the way he’s built up these layers, you can almost feel the movement of his hand. Look at the sharp angles and jagged edges, like shards of glass or broken wings – perhaps that’s where the title comes from. Then notice how the dense cluster of lines in the center seems to both obscure and reveal something. The whole thing reminds me a little of Franz Kline's paintings, though Davis brings a unique sense of rhythm and playfulness to the composition. It's this tension between chaos and control that makes ‘Bird Land’ so compelling; it’s a reminder that art is as much about the process of discovery as it is about the final product.