Untitled (9/3/59) 1959

This is a work on paper by David Smith, made in 1959, with ink and gouache. The starkness of the black ink flicks across the page with the immediacy of automatic writing, as though the artist had no time to think, only to act. The layering of marks in black and the off-white paper creates a really interesting contrast, like light and dark, good and bad, but also shapes and gaps. The opacity of the ink really stands out against the surface of the paper, where you can see this frenetic energy, with the build-up of smaller marks acting as an anchor. Notice the small ochre rectangle in the bottom left, which is like a signature, but also a grounding force. Smith was known for his large steel sculptures, but this drawing reminds me of the smaller, intimate works of Philip Guston. Both artists show us that artmaking is a process of trying to find form in the chaos, embracing the accidental, and knowing when to stop.