Nevada 1978

Lewis Baltz made this photograph, "Nevada." It seems to show nothing, to be about nothing, but I think it shows us everything about artmaking as a process. The color is a kind of nothing color, a gray-brown, but it's not a flat, dead color. It has a life to it, like the desert itself. The texture is subtle, just the weave of the canvas, or the paper. It invites us to look closer, to notice the small variations, the imperfections, the quietness. If you lean in, you can see the different tones of the browns and grays, like the shadows cast by the sun. It reminds me of Agnes Martin, whose work also seems simple, but is actually very complex. Both artists invite us to slow down, to look closely, and to find beauty in the ordinary. Art is an ongoing conversation, and these artists are speaking to each other across time. It's not about answers; it's about questions.