Emmie Francis reviews Brice Marden: Journals at Karma (through November 15) and Brice Marden: New Paintings & Drawings at Matthew Marks Gallery, New York (through December 24).

Francis notes synergies between the two shows writing: "Marden has remained consistently interrogative of precise material form and what value it contains. When a viewer approaches both his early and contemporary canvases, the weight of the paint layers is indicated by a special exposé in the lower region of the rectangular canvas. This unfinished strip constitutes a process of framing that at once alienates the viewer into understanding its plastic materiality and also invites them luxuriate in the painted colour blocks. The 1964 – 1967 notebook contains meticulous details of this process: 'When applying the paint with the brush drips accumulate on the marked off section of the canvas. I redraw the bottom edge using a straight edge and a pencil. I exercise little or no control over what happens below the drawn edge…'"