Untitled 1963

Editor: Here we have Jo Baer's "Untitled," created in 1963 using ink on paper. What strikes me immediately is its simplicity - a dark, somewhat uneven border framing a large blank space. What can you tell me about this work? Curator: Let's consider the artist's choice of materials, the readily available ink and paper. Baer isn't aiming for lavishness or illusion. Rather, she's investigating the very properties of these materials, how ink bleeds and sits on the paper’s surface. The roughness of the border, almost hand-hewn, is key. Do you see a connection to the broader context of art production at the time? Editor: I suppose I do. Artists were pushing back against mass production, embracing handmade qualities. Was she reacting against that maybe? Curator: Perhaps not reacting against but more using those principles to call into question art's auric value. It questions how an artist elevates an everyday object like a drawing into art simply through their mark. Consider the labour involved – a repetitive action creating the border, containing a void. It subverts the viewer’s expectation. What does that blank space suggest to you in terms of materiality? Editor: That the idea of the "blank canvas" isn't actually blank; that it carries the weight of its potential as a raw material. Seeing it this way, the framing becomes a way to point to the possibility rather than contain it. Curator: Exactly! It encourages us to think about the means of production. Also, it makes me think if there were other drawings by the same artist. Editor: Right, because knowing more about her artistic background certainly brings additional meaning to the forefront! Curator: Absolutely! This piece reveals much about artistic processes and challenges traditional notions about artistic expression.