Arno No. 5 1965

Editor: This is Ivon Hitchens' "Arno No. 5," its date is unknown. The colorful oil on canvas strikes me as a landscape, but abstracted through bold strokes. What materials might Hitchens have experimented with to achieve this effect? Curator: Consider the materiality of the paint itself. The thick application and varied brushstrokes suggest a process of layering and reworking. How does this focus on the physical act of painting challenge our conventional understanding of landscape art? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way, focusing on the process instead of just the image. It really blurs the lines between representation and the pure physicality of the paint. Curator: Precisely. And what does that blurring tell us about Hitchens' relationship with both tradition and the evolving art market? Editor: It makes me appreciate the artist’s hand and labor in creating the work, and how it exists as an object. Thanks. Curator: And reminds us that art is always both product and process.