Deep Six 1979

Gene Davis made Deep Six in 1976, and it's like a playful code made of crayon and ink. The marks are simple, like doodles or notations, but the whole composition feels really considered. You can see the hand of the artist, the directness of the gesture. I love how the textures work here; the slightly waxy feel of the crayon, the way the ink bleeds a little. It's not about hiding the process, but embracing it. There’s this one area, right in the middle, where a bunch of colorful scribbles cluster together. It's like a little explosion of energy, a concentrated dose of chaos in an otherwise ordered field. It’s these kinds of moments that make the piece sing. Davis's work often explored the language of abstraction, a bit like Agnes Martin’s subtle grids or Cy Twombly's poetic scrawls. It's about letting the work be what it is: a record of thought, feeling, and the pure joy of making.