Muses and Meres Series: Richard's Muse 2001

Brice Marden made this print, ‘Muses and Meres Series: Richard's Muse’ with graphic lines that move around in front of a black background. I imagine the artist, maybe with a brush full of white paint, drawing loops and twisting lines, figuring out how they sit and overlap with one another. It's as if Marden is mapping a conversation on the canvas, layering thoughts and feelings. The burnt orange lines add another layer, like a memory or echo of the white. These colours aren't fully opaque, you can see the trace of the ground through them. Marden has such a unique way of abstracting form, and yet the hand is really present. Each stroke is so particular, so intimate, that it becomes like a signature. You might see a relationship to Cy Twombly here, another master of the line, and how it can meander across a surface. Ultimately, Marden and others remind us that art is a continual dialogue across time, and that each gesture carries the weight of countless artistic exchanges.