Pliage (Folded Painting) 1973

Andre-Pierre Arnal made this 'Folded Painting' using simple materials and a clever, process-oriented method. It's not about hiding the work, but about showing it. The surface has a kind of waxy feel, and the colours are these earthy greens and yellows, almost like looking at fields from above, or maybe some weird lichen growing on a rock. If you look closely, especially in the centre where the yellow square is, you see how the paint has pooled and stained, revealing the way the canvas was folded. It's almost as if the painting painted itself. That one darker green square up in the corner looks different from the others; it’s denser, maybe a little overworked in comparison. Yet, it needs that density to give the whole thing structure. It makes me think of Robert Ryman, but with a lot more chill. It’s casual, like a conversation, and embraces the kind of happy accidents that can only happen when you let go and let the materials do their thing.