David Ortins
Born 1955, Boston, MA, lives and works in Boston, MA
0598P, 1998, oil on wax on wood, Museum Purchase with funds donated by Katherine R. Kirk and Malcolm L. Gefter, 2002.35
David Ortins’s abstract paintings are intensive studies of color and material. He uses a restricted palette of primary colors to focus on “getting a particular color to do what it does best.” Within this logic, the blue of 0598P is “inherently elegant” and lends itself to the painting’s loose, gestural brushstrokes. To investigate the possibilities of material, Ortins lays his color onto a ground of wax applied to wood panel. Wax’s malleable nature adds fluidity to Ortins’ working method, allowing him to “erase” paint at will by scraping it off. Meanwhile, the transparency of wax creates a bold contrast to the opacity and richness of the paint. This painting was purchased from the 2002 exhibition Painting in Boston: 1950–2000.
