Peter Young: Camel Dung Footprints

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During a studio visit in Bisbee, Arizona, Peter Young and David Deutsch, co-curator of Peter Young: 1963-1977, got into deep discussion about fold paintings, Moroccan women and what happens when you leave wet paint to dry on rooftops.


David Deutsch: How did you first start folding paintings?

Peter Young: I took a vacation in Fez, Morocco. I went to the native quarter, bringing canvas and paint with me, and rented two hotel rooms. One of which I lived in and in the other, I had them take the bed out so I had little room to work. I started doing a dot painting and I realized...

DD: What kind of equipment did you have?

PY: I didn't have any equipment–just loose canvas and a box of paint. It was unstretched you know, but I drew a square and started a dot painting.

DD: How did you make the dots with a tube or with...?

PY: With a brush. I had a little cup of not thin, not thick paint, just enough to sort of set down and I learned really how to pick up and make the dots incredibly uniform. Like that red box in Untitled Box, 1965–those are all so uniform you know, but here I was just really starting dotting as in Untitled #8 – 1967. This is really right after the star paintings, #2 – 1967 and #3 – 1967. I probably did the Philip Johnson #6 – 1967 and the Museum of Modern Art #7 – 1967 dot paintings which hadn't developed this pattern yet and this is maybe the painting when I finally realized this pattern.
So anyway, I'm in Morocco and I'm starting a dot painting and I realize that I won't even finish this painting by the end of two weeks. But two weeks was all I planned to stay and that it's kind of stupid to spend all of my time making a dot painting here in Morocco, and that maybe I should think of something else. So, I put a piece of canvas down on the floor, threw paint on it and folded it.