Untitled: Study for Large Work
I drew a few of these after visiting the Anderson Collection at Stanford University in Palo Alto.
The Anderson Collection, how it came about, and my political thoughts on it, is something I have strong opinions about. Regardless, I’m glad it exists. It’s a worthwhile place to visit on campus.
When you enter, the first floor feels active but partially inaccessible. Most of it is closed off, aside from a room for temporary exhibitions and a long, formal staircase leading to the main gallery on the second floor.
At the top of that staircase, when I visited, was a large painting by Clyfford Still. As you walk up, the painting expands in your field of view. The experience is confrontational, almost violent. I remember thinking it would be interesting to try to push that same idea further.
Clyfford Still 1957 D No.1
The image above isn’t from the Anderson Collection, but it’s my favorite work by Still. I had a poster of it on my wall growing up and spent a lot of time looking at it.
The study of mine here isn’t strong on its own. It’s one of several I did. I’ll try to find the others and add them later. What matters to me is the potential. It feels like something that should be done at scale, 20 or 30 feet across. I want to push the washes and mark making while keeping this composition as a base.
It’s something I’d still like to return to.