Matt Mullican

To his own surprise, Matt Mullican's new body of work is vibrantly colorful. A departure and liberation of sorts, it is also his most labor-intensive work yet. Made in his Berlin studio, "August 9, 1908" consists of very large paintings involving rubbing, a technique he's been using since the early '80s. A first rubbing transfers the image to be painted; a second rubbing draws outlines around the painted areas with an oil stick. Below, the artist describes his painstaking process, how the project came about, and how it fits into his work as a whole. "August 9, 1908" remains on view at Peter

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