Settlement Magenta 1980

Warren Rohrer, who was born in 1927, made this painting called Settlement Magenta using oils. The way he’s put down the paint, it’s like he’s building up a surface, bit by bit. Up close, you see how the colour isn’t flat at all. It's all these tiny little dabs and strokes, a field of marks sitting next to each other, like words making a sentence. There's a real physicality to the paint, a kind of stubbornness. The surface almost feels like it’s breathing. It makes me think of Agnes Martin, but with a warmer heart. Rohrer isn't trying to iron out all the feelings, instead he’s letting the small gestures and the colour do their thing. It's like he's saying, "Here, feel this magenta haze." And you do.