Grey / Blue on Green 1971

John Hoyland’s “Grey / Blue on Green” looks like it was made through a cascade of painterly gestures. It's as if Hoyland was in a dance, a kind of call and response with the canvas itself. I can imagine him thinking, “Where will this next stroke take me? What if I threw a bit of paint here, or splattered there?” It's not just about control, but about letting the painting lead. There’s something so immediate and raw about that big, hazy cloud of white and grey. Then you see the pops of red and blue fighting their way in. Each colour holds its ground. Hoyland, like many of us painters, was in conversation with the greats, like Helen Frankenthaler, and Morris Louis. He was pushing the boundaries of colour and form. He lets the painting breathe and become its own thing. It's like he's saying, "Here's what I did, now what do you see?" Isn't that what painting is all about?