Red 1988

Ed Clark’s “Red” is all about the lusciousness of paint, and the joy of pushing pigment around. His big strokes of colour are full of energy. There's a gorgeous horizontality, and the juicy reds, grays, blacks, and whites aren’t trying to be anything other than what they are. It feels really simple. There’s something so bold about the directness. The impasto is so expressive here. See the way the red paint kind of swoops and dives like a bird in flight? That gesture is everything. Clark's touch reminds me of Joan Mitchell’s wild strokes, and I think both artists are interested in the physicality of painting as a record of a live moment. It’s like the painting becomes an event, a happening that we can witness again and again. Art is all about the conversation, right? It’s about how we keep talking, keep responding, keep making.