Truth 1992

Pat Lipsky made this painting, "Truth," using what looks like a lot of careful brushwork. It's a kind of slow, meditative process, building up the surface bit by bit. The whole thing is basically a square turned on its head, filled with rectangles of color. They're not all perfect; you can see the hand in it, which is great. The colors are mostly in the red and purple family, some brownish ones in there too. But it's the little shifts in each block of color that make it sing, like a choir where everyone's slightly off-key but it all comes together. I’m thinking about the single, almost greyish-blue rectangle that sits just off-center; it’s a small mark, but it holds the key. Agnes Martin comes to mind – both playing with grids, but Lipsky's got a warmth, a kind of human touch. It’s about looking, feeling, and letting the painting reveal itself over time. There’s no one truth here, just a bunch of them bumping up against each other.