Blue Rectangle II 1958

Gene Davis made Blue Rectangle II with paint on canvas. The colours are so simple: an intense blue framing a white rectangle on a neutral background. It’s almost as if the artist built up the rectangle in stages, allowing the paint to drip and bleed, embracing the accidental marks. I can imagine Davis thinking hard about this painting. He’s using a flat rectangle to make a three-dimensional shape; the painting’s surface becomes a window or a doorway. The blue pulsates with energy and the white has a quiet coolness. It reminds me of the work of artists like Josef Albers or Agnes Martin who have pushed the boundaries of painting through serial forms. Davis is part of an ongoing conversation about the possibilities and limitations of painting itself. He’s saying: *I can make a painting and also make a joke*. I think I hear him.