Untitled 1973

Curator: Here we have an untitled work by Bernard Cohen from the Tate collection. I find its simplicity quite striking. Editor: It looks like…fingerprints? Enlarged and isolated, almost like a coded message. Curator: Cohen's career really pushed the boundaries of abstraction, challenging conventional notions of representation. His work often engaged with ideas of process and repetition. Editor: The materiality is fascinating – the contrast between the dense, almost topographic texture of the larger yellow “print” and the flatter, smoother red shapes. I wonder what process he used to achieve this. Curator: Cohen's works were always very tied to the socio-political influences of the time, expressing the desire for a more modern era. Editor: It makes you consider the act of mark-making itself, reducing art to its most fundamental gesture. Curator: Indeed. A potent exploration of identity and artistic expression, viewed through the lens of its time. Editor: And a surprisingly tactile exploration of process and concept. Food for thought.