Mark created three collage paintings that we know of with the word "Monterey" incorporated into them (the other paintings are also untitled: LMPF Inv. no. 05JM and LMPF Inv. no. 27JM). We don't know what the specific connection there was, if any, to Monterey. According to her family, Mark only visited California once in late 1959, but it is not known how long she waited to use the paper with this text, or if she even picked it up in California. It is highly unusual for Mark to incorporate text into her paintings. Sometimes she would collage newspaper into her work, but the large size of the letters and bright red and white colors here stand out far more than newsprint, and clearly satisfied a graphic compositional need. This Abstract Expressionist painting would not be the same without Mark's one bold crimson triangular slash in the upper left.

Mark did not usually utilize paper as a color or compositional component, but rather as a tool to create texture. However, in this collage painting, Mark places a series of blue tissue or rice paper layers in the lower third that anchor the work. She accentuated them with blue, white and the tiniest bit of red paint connecting visually to the Monterey element. She also placed a torn, crumpled and folded strip of that same blue paper to create a directional line leading to and contrasting with the red triangle. Further, the three flat overlapping pieces of irregularly shaped white paper carry the eye across the canvas.

Berry Campbell Inv. no. MARK-00027
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