Untitled 2018

Qin Yufen, born in 1954, made this untitled piece. The simple folding drying rack form becomes the canvas for these sparse marks. Like a page in a sketchbook, it shows artmaking as a process. Here, Yufen really makes you consider what counts as a painting. The texture is mostly that of the rack itself, the smooth and repeated bars that form the drying platform. But on closer inspection, you see that the surface is disrupted by small, dark marks. They are applied, almost like an afterthought, but they transform the piece. It reminds me of Agnes Martin’s grids, or maybe Dorothea Rockburne’s subtle interventions. This piece invites endless interpretations, and reminds us that art thrives on ambiguity and the ongoing exchange of ideas.