Untitled 1957

This is an untitled painting by Marcel Barbeau, made sometime in his career using black paint on what looks like paper. It's all about the push and pull of a brushstroke, isn't it? The way the black paint sits so heavy on the page, it's not just a shape, it's a real, physical thing. Look at the top left corner, where the paint seems to bleed a little into the white around it. That bit there, it's like a tiny accident, but it gives the whole piece this lively feel. I find myself looking at how the black and white play together, like a dance, a back-and-forth. It's almost as if he's playing with the idea of negative space. Barbeau’s work reminds me of Franz Kline, in the way it distills painting down to its most basic, elemental form. It’s a conversation about making marks, the gesture, and what it means to leave a trace.