Happy Birthday 1979

Editor: This is Jules Olitski’s “Happy Birthday,” made in 1979 with coloured pencils. It's delicate and seems like a very personal, almost private piece. What can you tell me about the making of this drawing, and perhaps its relationship to "high art"? Curator: Look closely at the layering of the colored pencil strokes. The deliberate, almost casual, application of these marks reveals much about Olitski's process. It pushes against the idea of drawing as simply a preparatory tool, instead elevating the medium itself, don't you think? Editor: I see that now. So you're suggesting that his process is challenging traditional notions of drawing. How so? Curator: Traditionally, drawing was subservient to painting or sculpture, seen merely as a means to an end. Olitski, by focusing on the act of drawing itself, questions that hierarchy. What does the directness of the coloured pencil, a relatively humble material, say about artistic value and labour for you? Editor: It feels like it democratizes art-making somehow, making it less about rarefied skill and more about… immediacy. It makes me think of my own sketches. Does this connect to the broader social context of the time? Curator: Absolutely. In the late 1970s, there was a growing interest in process-based art and a dematerialization of the art object, partly as a critique of commodification. How do you think this connects to the social context, particularly the accessibility and cost of these materials? Editor: Well, using colored pencils rather than oils suggests a move away from expensive, elite materials. So it becomes more accessible. This makes the whole artwork about more than just the final image. Curator: Exactly! It's about the act of creation, the accessibility of the medium, and its implicit social commentary. Hopefully you noticed that the material matters more than a representational rendering. Editor: It's made me rethink how something simple, like colored pencils, can carry so much conceptual weight!