Couplet III 1989

Brice Marden made ‘Couplet III’ here at the Tate Modern using oil on paper. The process feels so exposed, doesn’t it? Like we’re seeing the scaffolding before the building is built. Look at the layering of pale blues and greens, like watery ghosts of lines past. It's almost like he’s showing us his erasures, his hesitations. I’m drawn to the top right corner, where a loop almost closes but not quite. It’s so delicate, so tentative. The paint is thin, translucent. You can see the paper breathing beneath. I love that Marden isn’t trying to hide the hand, the labor. He’s letting the messiness be part of the beauty. This reminds me of Cy Twombly's scribbles, but more restrained, more architectural. Both artists create a kind of abstract poetry, where meaning isn’t fixed but flows and shifts with your gaze. Art isn't about answers, it's about questions.