Flurry 1967

"Flurry" is a print by Adolph Gottlieb, and it captures something elemental about mark-making. The composition divides into clear zones, like a landscape: earth, sky. Gottlieb’s shapes are simple, even blunt, but this is where the magic lies. Take a look at the bottom part, that flurry of black marks – it feels like an eruption, thick and opaque. You can almost feel the energy of the artist's hand in these gestures. The process is right there on the surface. Above this are two orbs, a brown and a green, floating like celestial bodies. They are smoother, flatter, and calmer than the black marks below, yet they bear subtle textures, evidence of their making. I am reminded of Joan Miro, and the way he balances abstraction with playful figuration. Gottlieb invites us into a world of pure sensation and emotion. There is so much to interpret, and yet nothing to ‘understand’ in a conventional sense. It’s up to us to decide what it all means.