

To Be titled (Additive Painting #118)
2013
Composed from acrylic iron oxide pigment worked directly onto raw burlap, this 2013 work by Mark Hagen occupies a compelling position between process-led abstraction and material investigation. The earthy, oxidized tonalities inherent to iron oxide pigment find a natural counterpart in the coarse weave of the burlap support, allowing the fabric's texture to remain an active participant in the final surface rather than a passive ground. The result is a painting that reads simultaneously as object and image, its physicality inseparable from its visual effect. Hagen developed his Additive Painting series as a sustained inquiry into how color, light, and substrate interact under varying conditions, drawing on interests that range from perceptual psychology to alchemical transformation. Within this body of work, each canvas is numbered sequentially, situating the individual piece within an ongoing conceptual project while preserving its autonomy as a singular encounter. The deliberately provisional title, To Be Titled, reinforces this openness, resisting fixed meaning and inviting sustained looking rather than immediate resolution. At 147.3 by 121.9 centimeters, the work commands a presence that rewards proximity, where the grain of the burlap and the granular quality of the pigment reveal themselves in close detail. For collectors drawn to painting that operates at the intersection of the phenomenological and the material, this is a focused and intellectually grounded example of Hagen's practice at a particularly productive moment in his development.
- Medium
- Acrylic iron oxide pigment on burlap
- Overall
- Signed
- Yes
- Spotted At
- Gallery · Phillips
More by Mark Hagen



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