August Day 1971

Matt Phillips made "August Day" with paint, maybe oil or acrylic, and a real sense of freedom. The colour palette is like a faded memory, soft blues and greens, which makes me think about artmaking as a process, not just a finished product. Looking closely, you can see how Phillips builds up the layers, thin washes of colour that let the texture of the surface show through. There's a part near the bottom, a kind of hazy, yellowish patch, it feels like a moment of pure sensation. It's like he's inviting you to get lost in the materiality of the paint. The whole piece seems to be embracing ambiguity, which is kind of like what Guston did, turning away from the sleekness of abstraction towards something more raw and personal.