Color Test 1987

Friedel Dzubas made this 'Color Test' painting, and you can really see him working through ideas, stroke by stroke. The cool thing about this piece is how the material aspects of the work totally shape its emotional vibe. The paint isn't trying to hide anything, it's laid on there, sometimes thin, sometimes thick, always letting you see the gesture that made it. Take that black stroke in the top left - it's almost a void, sucking light in, but then around it are these little halos, where the color is thinner, more transparent. I see Dzubas like Helen Frankenthaler, both playing with color in ways that feel improvisational. This piece is like a reminder that art is a conversation, an exchange of ideas across time, embracing ambiguity and multiple interpretations.