Points 1963

Robert Ryman made this white painting, called Points, with paint, probably oil, and a brush. The whole thing is these marks, kind of like commas, or dashes, all going in different directions. It's like a field of white on a barely-there-grey ground. It’s so physical, you know? The texture is everything. Look how the light catches those strokes. It’s not just about color, but about what paint *does*. The way it sits on the surface, the thickness and thinness, how it reflects light. Each stroke feels like a decision, not labored, but considered. See how some of the grey ground shows through? It's so simple, but it’s also complex because it’s about how we *see* painting. I think about Agnes Martin, whose grids do something similar with line. It's not just one thing, it’s an ongoing conversation about what painting is, or could be.