Sac 1 2012

Sam Gilliam made 'Sac 1' using paint on draped canvas, and what hits me first is the pure joy of the colors. Gilliam's letting the paint do its thing, so it's all about process. The material has a life of its own. Looking closely, the paint isn't applied so much as it's become one with the canvas, staining it, almost. There's this folding-in of blues, yellows, reds - it’s like the canvas is breathing. It's not just about the colors, but how they run, drip, and pool, creating these amazing textures and surfaces. Check out where that yellow spills into the blue on the top left, that feels so freeing, like a dance, and then notice the reddish brown hues pulling in the opposite direction. It makes you think about Frankenthaler’s soak-stain paintings, but Gilliam takes it a step further by turning the canvas into a sculpture. It is that combination that makes it so engaging.