Abstraction 1962

This is an untitled abstract work on paper by Robert Mallary, made with ink, you can tell it was made quite spontaneously! Mallary approaches the surface with long vertical strokes, but also playful slashes and scattered marks. It’s all about the gesture, the movement of the hand. This approach gives the artwork a real sense of immediacy. The physicality of the ink is really important here. It’s not just about the image, but about the texture, the way the ink sits on the paper. Look at the dark, smudged area at the top of the image, it gives the impression of a fleeting, smeared moment. Mallary reminds me of Franz Kline, another artist who was totally committed to the raw energy of mark-making. This piece is about openness to possibility. It's a reminder that art is a conversation, an ongoing experiment, full of questions rather than answers.