Cos Cob 1987

Denise Green made this untitled painting with paint, I imagine, and a good feeling for color. It's all about this teal blob at the center, isn’t it? Like some juicy thought bubble against a ground of deep blues and moody purples. I love how the square frame, slightly off-kilter, tries to contain the chaos, but the loose brushstrokes and floating squares of color refuse to be tamed. The materiality here is so important. Look at the varied textures, from the smooth teal to the scumbled purples. It feels like she's built this up from many layers, each adding to the emotional complexity. That little scribble of a line that darts across the surface is so alive, almost like it's breathing. Green's work, in some ways, reminds me of Elizabeth Murray, another painter who wasn't afraid to let her forms break loose. Art is a conversation, an ongoing exchange, where meanings are multiple.