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strange situation, I believe, but a painting does paint itself. It insists on itself. I do not know any other way to paint, but I do not know any other way to live fruitfully than to cooperate with circumstance and watch the environment, be frustrated by it, like it and let it act also." This cooperative relationship with the life force permeates Brooks' work.

Four paintings supporting Brooks' precise mode of expression with particular depth are "Casper", 1973, which is composed primarily of large bold curved forms of black, white and luminous orange; "Mardon", 1973, with large cool gray areas, its transparency developing from the black underpainting over which is a pyramidal white straight line contrasting with a restless calligraphic black line at the top of the painting extending into a white area. "Himble", 1973, has very lively interwoven curvilinear red forms against a dark green background with two thrusting black lines, and was painted on a dark black-green ground, much as the Venetians painted on a red earth ground using a mixture of tempera white and oil white for glazing. "Fonteel", 1974, is a black and white painting worked on a black ground with a haphazard placement of white shapes. A black wash over the white produces a warm gray, and a thin white wash of paint over a black area produces a cool gray. This painting is a resolute statement. 

Brooks used to number his paintings to identify them, but for years he has been using the alphabet starting each year with A, which might remain as such or turn into a word either invented or real. 1974 started with "Altair", a small, brilliant painting only 24 x 27", which seems four times its size because of its strong color and great power. 

Drawings or works on paper are very important to Brooks. They have swift gesture and are lyrical impulses becoming reality, incorporating all media, mixed or used alone. As they are experimental, the drawings are very seldom named or "lettered", but remain entitled. One, 1974, 22 1/2 x 31 inches and untitled has a looping blue line which is a unrestrained brushstroke that