Untitled 1970

Here we have an untitled painting by Lothar Charoux, and it's all about this stark, almost severe simplicity. The dark ground, it's so deep, like looking into a void, but then this thin, pale line just cuts right through it. I find myself wondering about the physicality of the medium. Is the paint applied smoothly, or is there texture hiding in that darkness? I imagine the dark paint could be thick or thin, transparent, or opaque, but it is difficult to know. That lone line, though, it's got this hesitant quality, like a thread barely holding things together. It reminds me of Agnes Martin's quiet grids, that delicate touch that speaks volumes. It makes you think about how much can be said with so little and embrace ambiguity.