Untitled #156 1971

This untitled stripe painting was made by Gene Davis, who got a kick out of laying down colors like musical notes, without a title! There's something mesmerizing in the way he lets the colors play against each other. It's all about that process of layering, repeating, and seeing what happens. Davis's stripes sit right on the surface, no illusion, just pure pigment doing its thing. Look at that ochre line – it's not trying to be anything other than itself, but somehow, it hums against the pale lilac above it. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin's grids, but with a party dress on. The painting is not trying to be anything other than what it is, just color and rhythm. And that’s what’s so great about art, right? It's not about answers, it's about the questions we ask along the way.