黑灰中的一种形态 1996

Xu Hongming made this painting called, 黑灰中的一种形态, with what looks like oil paint, and lots of patience. There's a real sense of layering here, like watching a slow, geological process. The color seems to be built up in small, repetitive marks. It’s almost meditative in its application. Up close you can see the texture; it’s not smooth, but broken and uneven. This physicality, this almost tactile quality, suggests the labor involved, the hours spent building up the surface, one tiny daub at a time. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin's grids, but without the geometry. There’s something so human and fallible about this kind of mark-making. It embraces a kind of imperfection, like life itself, that you find yourself staring into, trying to decode its mysteries.