The Exhibit That Painted Itself

Robert Sullivan | The New Yorker | 3rd February 2019

John Cage sometimes put “indeterminate” sections in his music, inspiring his friend Steir to do the same in her art. Her works (“emphatically not abstract”) are not so much painted as poured and flicked, a result of “chance within limitations”. The writer thinks they are “gorgeous”: Steir says “In some way, the paintings paint themselves.” A video of Steir working (8 min) is here.