Ipswich 1967

James Brooks made "Ipswich" with paint on canvas; it’s now hanging out at the Dallas Museum of Art. The painting seems to have come into being through a process of adding, subtracting, shifting. A big dark shape dominates the space. I see gestural marks in blacks, whites, greens, and a kind of pale mauve. Did Brooks put down a layer, then wipe it away, then add more? I sympathize with Brooks as he was working. Did he know where he was going? Or was he following the painting, responding to it, letting it lead him? Look at the thin white lines that cut across the surface. They’re like afterthoughts, or corrections. They add a layer of uncertainty, of questioning, to the painting. Were these elements directing him to something new? I see painting as this conversation across time, like a game of telephone, where each artist takes what came before and twists it, adds to it, and passes it on.