Untitled 1962

Michel Parmentier made this untitled painting with a series of wipes and blurred stratifications. I can imagine him shuffling around the studio in his slippers, thinking about the canvas, trying to figure it out with a big brush loaded with white paint. The canvas responds, pushing back. It’s a real conversation, with moments of resistance but also harmony. In contrast to the expanse of white, that singular thick yellow line pierces through the space, creating a focal point, a kind of directional marker. And then the horizontal dark grey mark at the bottom anchors the composition. It’s like the work of another painter, Agnes Martin; it's subtle but assertive. The work of painting is slow, and it is only through looking at another painting that one can feel the kinship and the deep connection to the shared experience of art.