Micro-Painting 1968

Here we have a 'Micro-Painting' by Gene Davis, who made it at some point using paint. I love the way Davis wasn’t afraid to think small; this painting is like a tiny poem, a haiku in color. The palette here is really doing it for me; that pale turquoise, it’s like a swimming pool in a dream, or the color of an old car. Then that thin, tight, yellow line cuts across the space. It's not perfect, you can see the little wobbles and variations in tone, which give it so much character. It reminds you that a human hand was here, making decisions, adjusting, and feeling its way through the process. For me, the beauty is in the imperfection, the tiny details that you might miss at first glance. Think about Agnes Martin, maybe, or even the early experiments of someone like Josef Albers, where color and form become a vehicle for something bigger. This little painting opens up a whole universe of possibilities.