Print 7 1967

In this ‘Print 7’ by Bernard Cohen, the artist used printmaking to explore colour and form. At first glance, the surface appears to be just off-white, like an aged wall or a canvas primed but never quite used. But look again! I like to think about what the artist was trying to do and the challenges they might have faced. Did Cohen laboriously build up layers of ink to achieve this subtle tone? The smooth, almost monolithic field of color invites a kind of meditative looking. It reminds me of the quiet moments in Agnes Martin’s paintings, that same whisper of color. It also makes me think of Ad Reinhardt, who stripped painting back to its barest essentials. It feels like an invitation, a challenge to see what's not immediately apparent and to find beauty in simplicity. We are all in this conversation with each other and with the history of painting.