Black Grey Beat 1964

Gene Davis made "Black Grey Beat," a large-scale painting using acrylic on canvas. What strikes me is how the stripes create a sense of rhythm, a visual beat, as the title suggests. Davis isn't trying to trick you with illusions; he lays down these simple, vertical stripes, reveling in the pure act of painting. The surface is smooth, and the colors are flat and opaque, giving it a kind of graphic quality. Look at that single pink stripe, slightly off-center. It's thinner than the others, almost like a hesitant note in a musical composition. The way Davis plays with the width and placement of each stripe creates a unique visual tempo. Davis, like Agnes Martin, embraced repetition as a form of expression, but unlike Martin, he lets a bit of funkiness peek through. His work reminds us that painting isn't just about making a pretty picture, it's about exploring the possibilities of color, form, and process.