Field 1976

Warren Rohrer made "Field" with paint, building up subtle horizontal lines, creating a sort of meditative plane. Looking closely, you can see how Rohrer worked. The texture isn't about thick, gloppy paint, but more about the subtle accumulation of thin layers. It’s almost like he’s writing something, a language I can nearly grasp but never quite decode. I wonder if he mixed his own colors, the hues are so nuanced, like he found them already there in the world. The ochre color dominates, and the small marks and horizontal lines have an amazing presence when experienced together. It reminds me of Agnes Martin, another painter who knew how to do so much with so little. Both artists embrace ambiguity, and the idea that something unfinished can hold so much meaning.