Red Field 1972 - 1979

Curator: Here we have Arnulf Rainer's "Red Field," housed at the Tate. The dimensions of the image are 530 by 786 millimeters. Editor: It feels, to me, like gazing into the heart of something raw, like a freshly skinned knee. Does that make sense? It’s visceral. Curator: Indeed, the saturation is quite striking. The repetitive mark-making creates a tangible surface, almost a woven plane of pure color. We could examine this in terms of minimalist aesthetics. Editor: Or maybe it’s simpler than that. Maybe it’s just Rainer shouting, "Look, feel!" Sometimes art is just a primal scream, isn't it? Curator: Perhaps. It does demand a certain directness of response, circumventing, in a way, symbolic interpretation. Editor: Exactly. It’s more like a feeling than a thought, which might be the whole point. Curator: A fascinating demonstration of emotive abstraction, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Absolutely, and an arresting experience all around.