Untitled (SFP94-101, SFF.1783) 1994

Curator: Sam Francis's "Untitled (SFP94-101, SFF.1783)," from 1994, confronts us with a burst of unrestrained color. Editor: My first thought is simply—chaos! Glorious, joyous chaos, with this seemingly random scattering of vibrant blues, reds, and yellows against that bright white ground. Curator: Precisely! It's pure Abstract Expressionism, isn't it? The lines, splashes, and pools feel spontaneous, intuitive. Yet, in their dispersal, they create a symbolic network reminiscent of constellations or the branching patterns we see in nature. Editor: That emphasis on 'spontaneity' often obscures the actual labor, doesn’t it? I’m drawn to consider the viscous nature of the acrylics, the tools Francis used to achieve that drip effect. Was he tilting the canvas? Manipulating gravity? The physical act of applying that much paint… Curator: I think he saw the canvas almost as a field of energy, these colorful gestures are emotional or psychological traces. You see the echo of Abstract Expressionists such as Pollock in the emphasis of the surface. Francis studied the psychological effects of color, seeing each color as an evocation. Editor: It does read to me as a performative, almost impulsive act. There is that gestural quality you highlight which reminds one of the mid-century focus on chance as a method in composition. We think of craft today, but that material act wasn’t always valorized then the way it is now. Curator: Perhaps the interplay is in our response. How these colours evoke particular feelings. The bright yellow against the sombre, dark blues perhaps represents internal emotional contradiction, or our internal dialogues. Editor: And looking closer, that raw canvas plays a major part. It isn't just background; it's activating these pigments. It makes you aware of the artifice, but it allows the colors to really pop. Curator: Yes, by revealing this surface and its materiality, it asks us what we feel in the immediacy of art. What inner truths resonate? Editor: Looking closely allows me to consider the materiality and craft more deeply. Thanks for revealing what lies beneath what looks like 'chaos'!