Murranji 1998

Here's this sprawling work, "Murranji," by Robert MacPherson, a constellation of brushstrokes laid down with grey paint. I imagine the artist making this piece—dipping his brush, and then another, and another. Each form is like a thought, not overworked, but captured in its moment of emergence. It's interesting to consider the sheer labor and the mental space required to produce such a vast array of marks. I wonder what it was like for MacPherson, day after day, generating these shapes, each one unique, yet part of a larger whole. This reminds me of some of Brice Marden’s serial works, but where Marden is all earth tones and wax, MacPherson’s got this stark, almost urgent quality. These aren’t shapes trying to be anything other than themselves. They’re direct, honest—a testament to the act of painting as a form of inquiry, where each brushstroke is a question, an exploration. It makes you realize we’re all just throwing marks out there, hoping they mean something.