Drawing for High Green I & II 1992

Curator: Richard Diebenkorn's "Drawing for High Green I & II," created in 1992 using pencil and graphite on paper. It feels…fragmentary, doesn't it? Editor: Yes, utterly so! I’m immediately struck by this incredible intimacy. It’s like glimpsing into the artist's raw thought process. What’s immediately noticeable is the visible, ruled paper underneath – like peering into his sketchbook! Curator: Exactly. The notations on the page… “red oxide,” “indigo,” these are almost like ancient alchemical instructions. He's marking more than colors— he's suggesting the character of a space yet unformed. The diagrammatic elements speak to a language beyond pure representation. It's symbolic, almost coded. Editor: I read it differently. Look at "ground plane done in sections"—that's the language of urban planning. The "High Green" paintings are, in a sense, Diebenkorn engaging with spatial politics, reclaiming open spaces conceptually, at least on the canvas, against the encroachments of development. Curator: That's interesting! It definitely brings forward a discourse about reclaiming spaces… The recurring geometric shapes—squares, rectangles…They do resonate with urban landscapes…But also hint at timeless architectural forms, echoes of sacred sites distilled into pure design. Editor: There’s a push and pull happening: a conscious navigation between spontaneity and structure. What makes it contemporary is that it exposes the creative negotiation, the unresolvable tension between a modernist urge for clarity and a postmodern acknowledgement of uncertainty. It gives us permission to challenge assumptions. Curator: Indeed. And those faint pencil lines… They whisper of the ephemeral nature of ideas, the fleeting quality of inspiration… The paper support becomes, in this instance, more than just a means for executing a study; it is the repository for something just beyond reach. Editor: What this drawing truly reflects, for me, is the tension of existing at a particular point in history—Diebenkorn grappling with his place within this legacy and wrestling against a blank canvas for both spatial and societal possibilities. Curator: Beautifully articulated. Thank you, this has revealed an enriching dimension within the work that will certainly bring much for audiences to consider. Editor: The pleasure was all mine; there is so much to appreciate once you start deconstructing layers of what you perceive is being communicated with simple geometric lines.