Summer 1960

Curator: Thomas Downing’s “Summer” from 1960 greets us today. Editor: Wow, what a delightful sprinkle of color! It’s like looking up through a canopy of leaves, sunlight dappling through. A gentle rain of ochre, blues and muted greens. Curator: Downing was very interested in color field painting, and you can see that here with his particular brand of abstraction. He embraced this almost pointillist application. How do you feel he employed material, what material effects you recognize? Editor: I wonder about the labor, too. Each dot is so deliberate, the careful saturation of each little circle against the creamy ground. He builds the effect gradually, laboriously maybe, almost like laying tiles. Curator: Exactly. This idea of systematic work relates back to repetitive work, with almost industrial roots that subvert, perhaps even question, that established art and craft division. How about your interpretation? Editor: Beyond that craftsmanship, the evenness is amazing and quite appealing, considering this would not have been achieved using mechanical, repetitive methods like printing. The tiny variations feel hand-wrought, full of care. The palette feels dated now but so restful and organic. Curator: Do you find any connections to how commercial art during that period of mass consumerism or social ideas can impact this painting, too? Editor: This reminds me of the wallpaper designs of the time, mass produced yet pretending at a certain handcrafted artistry. Only, Downing elevates that simple repeating pattern. It’s both high and low art, almost mocking high art because he presents the materials so simply. What does this evocation bring you to remember about summers? Curator: Honestly, the sheer optimism. Looking at this I imagine the unending days, lying on the grass. It makes me want to find a cool patch of grass and watch clouds form. It's nostalgic, dreamy almost. Editor: It feels both fresh and a throwback at the same time. Quite the trick.