Flower Machine 1964

Gene Davis made this colour field painting, *Flower Machine*, with acrylic on canvas. The vertical stripes, it’s all about the rhythm of colour and space, like musical notes on a staff. Look at how Davis layers these stripes. They’re not quite opaque, which gives the surface this amazing, almost hazy quality. The texture is smooth, but you can still feel the hand of the artist in the slight variations, like the inconsistency of pressure when using a brush. Take a look at the interplay between those cool blues and blacks against the warmer yellows, oranges, and pinks. It is hard to pick out one area in particular, as each colour seems to respond to the next. The choice of tone and hue work to balance each other. I think of Agnes Martin and her subtle grids when I look at this. Both explore the beauty of simplicity, and how much can be expressed with just a few elements. It is more than just looking, but feeling.