Untitled (SFP88-12) 1988

Editor: This is Sam Francis’s “Untitled (SFP88-12)”, painted in 1988 using acrylic on canvas. There's such energy and movement here; the colours feel bold, almost visceral against the stark white backdrop. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: What I find compelling is how Francis, through this seemingly chaotic application of paint, disrupts conventional notions of control and authorship. It compels us to consider the painting as a performative space where the artist engages in a radical act of self-expression but also confronts the societal expectations around artistic creation and meaning-making. How might the sheer scale of the canvas contribute to this reading? Editor: That's a good point, thinking about how size might contribute to the impact and maybe challenge traditional norms around control. In many ways it seems unfinished though, like the shapes float. Curator: Precisely! The deliberate “emptiness” or negative space, central to matter-painting and Japanese aesthetics, actually highlights the marks. It forces us to consider what is deemed valuable. It also challenges Western, colonial concepts of "filling" a canvas to demonstrate status or accomplishment. The shapes invite considering the performative politics in his work. Does that affect how you see his gestures? Editor: Definitely. The "emptiness" really brings forward a sort of visual resistance. Seeing it now as a space to explore counter-narratives of artistic convention and expression makes me reconsider the whole piece. Thanks for the added historical context and for tying it into politics! Curator: And thank you. I'm walking away from this conversation with a fresh sense of the interconnectedness in all these interpretations and Sam Francis' continuing disruption through abstraction.