The Language Of Gris: Liz Michael On The Complex Beauty Of Monochrome

Michael’s interest in Levine’s work can be seen in a color from the Nordic series, N.16: “I thought about N.16 for many months,” she says. “I asked myself, what did I want to say with a white? It should be not too white, not too bright, but subtle, luminous, the barest hint of cloudiness without it going gray. I thought it would be near impossible to achieve this level of subtlety. How could I do it? One day I got up and I just knew how to create it. On the second go, it was right.”

Like Levine, Michael understands that no color is singular. Even white—a color considered as colorless, that is so often equated to invisibility and absence—contains multitudes. Paint too, is more than a surface covering. It is opacity, light, and texture. It can convey complexity and depth in the sparest of ways. In conversation with Michael, Levine explained that his work existed outside of trends. Monochrome is, he said, “eternal and transcendental.” It follows then, that so too are the colors of Gris.