My Painting Drips 1966

Gerard Fromanger made this painting with, well, paint! And, look, it drips! The single-mindedness of that red! It’s a bold statement, a dare, as if Fromanger is saying, "How much can I do with just one color?" I love the way the paint is both an object and an illusion. The flat, graphic shapes read like signs, but they also suggest the messy, unpredictable nature of the painting process. Notice how the drips become independent forms, almost like a comic strip of paint in motion. It's this back-and-forth between control and chance, intention and accident, that makes painting so alive. It puts me in mind of Ed Ruscha's word paintings, simple and declarative, but with a sly sense of humor. Like Ruscha, Fromanger is playing with the idea of art as language. There’s no right answer here, just an invitation to think and feel.