Untitled (Watercolor) 1967

Ion Bitzan made this untitled watercolor, and what strikes me is the dialogue between accident and intention, a kind of dance between control and chaos. I can imagine Bitzan, with a brush loaded with ink, making these decisive marks. The ink bleeds, blooms, and runs, creating these textures that feel both organic and deliberate. The surface tension is tight, it is all a kind of controlled explosion of inky gestures! It’s easy to imagine him lost in the materiality of paint, each stroke a thought, a feeling, an action. The way the dark mass seems to hover, it’s almost as if Bitzan is in conversation with other painters who explore the balance between representation and abstraction. Ultimately, it's the uncertainty and open-endedness that makes this work so compelling.