Mineral 2004

John McCracken made ‘Mineral’ with paint and a whole lot of sanding, I imagine, getting it to be that perfect. That glassy, immaculate plane in luscious red is like staring into a candy apple. It feels kind of LA, in its smooth perfection. I bet McCracken labored like a monk to get to this simple form, right? He didn’t want to leave any sign of his hand. It makes me think about sculpture and minimalism, and also how much the California light must have informed his sense of color. Like, imagine him thinking: what if a painting came off the wall and into real space, but still tried to be just a pure color? He was in dialogue with artists like John Chamberlain, who made sculptures out of crushed car metal, and also Donald Judd who was making very different but equally austere sculptures at the time. All of these artists inspire me with their unique conversation on what art can be.