Blue Disk (Disque Bleu) 1977

Pierre Alechinsky created this print called Blue Disk in 1973 with etching. Just imagine the scratching and biting of acid on the plate – the smell, the mess, the pure process! There is something almost automatic and dreamlike about the shapes; they’re biomorphic and full of cartoonish energy. I wonder if Alechinsky began by doodling, letting his hand move freely across the plate, almost unconsciously. The imagery might then suggest itself as he worked. I can feel that back-and-forth he must have had, watching the forms emerge and pushing them further. That central blue disk is like a little jewel amidst all the red markings. What is it doing there? I bet it's a focal point, a breather, or a place for the eye to rest. This print reminds me that artists are always riffing off each other, exchanging ideas across time and space, and that the ambiguity of painting lets us all in on the conversation.