Dover 1985

Jacob Kainen made this print, Dover, using graphic ink and colour in 1985. Look at those marks! Big, bold swaths of red cut across the top, like a memory of a sunset. I can almost feel Jacob Kainen in his studio, wrestling with the image. What does it mean to slash at a surface like that? Each mark seems so sure, but I bet there was plenty of uncertainty along the way. The black and blue diagonals feel grounded, while the greys seem to imply a horizon. The various colours don’t sit still; instead, they push and pull. This piece is alive. Kainen’s work reminds us that artists are always in conversation, building on what came before, riffing on each other's ideas. That's what makes art so exciting—it’s never really finished, always open to new interpretations.