Untitled 1962

Michel Parmentier made this untitled painting with, it seems, a desire to strip things down to their most basic. It's all about process, isn't it? Look at how the white paint is dragged across the surface, almost like a window being wiped clean. There's a real physicality to it; you can practically feel the artist's hand moving. And then that stripe of yellow, slightly off-center, imperfect. It's not trying to be anything other than itself. The gray area at the bottom feels like a grounding force, a sense of weight in all that lightness. The thin lines scratched across the surface, like tentative thoughts or afterthoughts. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin’s subtle, quiet paintings, but with a touch more grit. This piece is a reminder that art doesn't always have to shout to be heard; sometimes, the quietest gestures speak the loudest.