Diamond Jim 1972

Gene Davis made this stripe painting called Diamond Jim, and I can almost hear him whistling while he works. Look at those thin, even vertical stripes, marching across the canvas. It's all about the rhythm here, the interplay between the colors. I wonder what Davis was thinking, setting up this visual tempo? Maybe it was about pushing painting to its bare essentials, like Agnes Martin, but with more swing. The colors are so muted, almost like faded memories or pastel rainbows. Each stripe is so carefully placed, yet they create this overall feeling of lightness and movement. It's not just color, though. It’s also surface, texture, and those tiny variations where the hand falters slightly, making each stripe subtly different. These slight imperfections give it a human touch, even in its strict geometry. These stripes remind us that painting doesn't have to be a heavy statement. It can be a quiet exploration, an ongoing conversation. We are always looking at each other's paintings, and figuring stuff out.