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Lot Essay
A dynamic explosion of mark-making, Joe Bradley’s Untitled engages the viewer through a panoply of texture and form. A visceral surface energy is created through jostling stripes, blocks and smears of brilliant aquamarine, canary yellow, vivid green and opulent violet, coalescing to produce a vibrant and tactile panorama.
Throughout his career, Bradley has explored the potential of painting. Executed in 2011, the present work is a captivating example of the powerful, large-scale abstract paintings he has pursued throughout his oeuvre. These works poetically tell the story of their own making: frequently leaving his canvases on the studio floor to accrue paint and dirt, Bradley rejoices in the accidental marks that appear. Often painting on both sides of the canvas, Bradley allows colour to seep through and intermingle, creating a unique chromatic dialogue that combines bold statement with an elusive sense of depth. His works bear witness to the legacy of Colour Field painting and Abstract Expressionism, and his raw textural surfaces draw upon the influence of artists such as Jean Dubuffet and Cy Twombly. Bradley’s abstract paintings constitute one of the most significant strands of his output, with works held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
For Bradley, painting is an immersive process that fundamentally bridges the voids of time and space. Discussing his engagement with the medium, Bradley commented, ‘With painting I always get the impression that you’re sort of entering into a shared space. There’s everyone who’s painted in the past, and everyone who is painting in the present… You can be in conversation with those men and women in the caves—it’s like yesterday, you know? I think that time moves slower in painting. And maybe that accounts for a lot of the anxiety around painting in the last 40 or 50 years. You have the 20th century wrapping up and everything is moving at this breakneck speed? And then, painting is still walking. It’s just a very human activity that takes time’ (J. Bradley quoted in L. Hoptman, ‘Joe Bradley’, Interview Magazine, reproduced at https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/joe-bradley [accessed 17 September 2014]). In this vein, the artist has developed a deliberately mindful, organic and time-consuming process. His method comprises long periods of stillness, simply focusing on the canvas stretched across the floor, ‘stalking his prey’, waiting alone for a motivating impulse. He explores the piece from a variety of vantages, circling it on the ground and pinning it up to the wall. Discussing his approach, Bradley has explained how, ‘I don’t go into painting with any kind of plan. The ones I am happiest with I have no idea how I arrived at. The best ones are always a real surprise’ (J. Bradley, quoted in S. LaCava, ‘Studio Visit: Joe Bradley’, The Paris Review, February 2011, reproduced at https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/02/22/joe-bradley/ [accessed 17 September 2014]).
Throughout his career, Bradley has explored the potential of painting. Executed in 2011, the present work is a captivating example of the powerful, large-scale abstract paintings he has pursued throughout his oeuvre. These works poetically tell the story of their own making: frequently leaving his canvases on the studio floor to accrue paint and dirt, Bradley rejoices in the accidental marks that appear. Often painting on both sides of the canvas, Bradley allows colour to seep through and intermingle, creating a unique chromatic dialogue that combines bold statement with an elusive sense of depth. His works bear witness to the legacy of Colour Field painting and Abstract Expressionism, and his raw textural surfaces draw upon the influence of artists such as Jean Dubuffet and Cy Twombly. Bradley’s abstract paintings constitute one of the most significant strands of his output, with works held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
For Bradley, painting is an immersive process that fundamentally bridges the voids of time and space. Discussing his engagement with the medium, Bradley commented, ‘With painting I always get the impression that you’re sort of entering into a shared space. There’s everyone who’s painted in the past, and everyone who is painting in the present… You can be in conversation with those men and women in the caves—it’s like yesterday, you know? I think that time moves slower in painting. And maybe that accounts for a lot of the anxiety around painting in the last 40 or 50 years. You have the 20th century wrapping up and everything is moving at this breakneck speed? And then, painting is still walking. It’s just a very human activity that takes time’ (J. Bradley quoted in L. Hoptman, ‘Joe Bradley’, Interview Magazine, reproduced at https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/joe-bradley [accessed 17 September 2014]). In this vein, the artist has developed a deliberately mindful, organic and time-consuming process. His method comprises long periods of stillness, simply focusing on the canvas stretched across the floor, ‘stalking his prey’, waiting alone for a motivating impulse. He explores the piece from a variety of vantages, circling it on the ground and pinning it up to the wall. Discussing his approach, Bradley has explained how, ‘I don’t go into painting with any kind of plan. The ones I am happiest with I have no idea how I arrived at. The best ones are always a real surprise’ (J. Bradley, quoted in S. LaCava, ‘Studio Visit: Joe Bradley’, The Paris Review, February 2011, reproduced at https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/02/22/joe-bradley/ [accessed 17 September 2014]).