Miles Davis inspired Bert to venture into abstract painting and now when he looks back on it he can see it was a very minimalist and cautious exploration into the unknown.
There’s not a lot to say except it marked a point in time where he made a conscious decision to try his hand at creating something totally abstract.
Bert knew of the abstract expressionist painters like Pollock, Newman and Olitski but by far the biggest inspiration was Jean-Paul Riopelle.
Dimensions: 62x91cm
Painted: 2001
Materials: Acrylic on MDF board
Private collection
The story behind The joy of listening to Miles Davis
The first abstract painting Bert did was about joy. Specifically the joy that came from the beautiful music of the wild and free jazz of Miles Davis – one of the most creative musicians to ever play jazz. Miles Davis was a creative person and he created some of the most memorable music the world has ever seen. Miles also was an abstract painter.
Bert had often wondered how a painter would go about painting an emotion like the joy of listening to music. He instinctively knew it was impossible to depict with a realist form of painting.
So with some leftover paint, Bert began to experiment and soon realised that with a form of abstract expressionism it could be done. A very muted green background was laid in. After it had dried, he began to utilise numerous methods to create essential elements. Primarily paint was dripped onto the surface, in small and large amounts. The colorful paint was also splattered, dragged, and flicked. The board was tilted to allow puddles of paint to flow, mix, and create linear elements. Fingers and brushes were used. Bert has only refined these techniques since this first painting; and got better at composition
Note: This painting is on the reverse of King of Dirt.
Detail views of abstract painting – The joy of listening to Miles Davis
