| | Sometimes I look at art and find myself with no response, because I don't know if I am not understanding the piece, or if there really is nothing for me grasp in it. I wonder...am I really ignorant, or is the artist just struggling?
This painting, at first glance, might be one of those. It is a good example of what someone might look at and say, "Is that supposed to be art, because I so could have done that myself". Oh really. (Yes, maybe in terms of mere craftsmanship, anyone can paint stripes onto a square. But does every random person have the ability to invite another to think and evoke in them a response with nothing but simple grey stripes on a white canvas?)
I think that if you stand in front of the physical piece for a few minutes, you will see that there is more than what immediately meets the eye.
Agnes Martin's work has a definite spiritual presence to it. Without overstating anything at all, it is quietly imbued with a sense of grace and placid openness. It shares with us the beauty of the woman's intuitive sensibilities, which is verbally expressed in the eloquent verse below.
This painting shows us that infinite complexity can be found in what appears to be very simple.
Agnes Martin
1997
I can see humility
Delicate and white
It is satisfying
Just by itself. . .
And Trust
absolute trust
a gift
a precious gift
I would rather think of humility than
anything else.
Humility, the beautiful daughter
She cannot do either right or wrong
She does not do anything
All of her ways are empty
Infinitely light and delicate
She treads an even path.
Sweet, smiling, uninterrupted, free.
. . Agnes Martin 1973
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| | Posted 5/16/2007 4:26 PM - 57 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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