Untitled (Yellow) 1999

Phil Sims made this painting, Untitled (Yellow), and as you can see, he wasn’t really into obvious brushstrokes; the making is very subtle. It looks like he built up thin layers of colour over time, making the surface glow! This is a physical thing, right? Paint on canvas. The colour isn’t super saturated, but it’s a warm yellow, kind of like egg yolk, or maybe turmeric. I like how the colour seems to hum. Look closely, and you can see these tiny variations in tone that suggest the movement of the hand and the layering of the paint. It’s not trying to fool you into thinking it’s something else. This reminds me of Agnes Martin, where the painting becomes almost like a meditative object. Sims shows us how much can be done with so little, and reminds us that the real subject of painting is always the process of seeing.