Red M - Jack Bush

A 1973 screenprint by Jack Bush, featuring a bold, jagged red form set against a textured grey background with blue and green accents.

Red M is a screenprint by the Canadian artist Jack Bush, produced in 1973. Bush is associated with the Painters Eleven group and the development of Colour Field painting in North America. His work often focuses on the interaction of pure colour and simplified form, moving away from the gestural brushwork of earlier abstract styles toward a more deliberate, graphic clarity.

The composition features a large, jagged red shape that dominates the centre of the frame. This form, resembling a stylised letter M or a lightning bolt, is set against a textured, muted grey background. At the base of the image, two horizontal bands of colour, one blue and one bright green, provide a grounding element to the floating red form. The edges of the grey field retain a rough, painterly quality, suggesting the physical process of screen printing and the layering of ink.

Bush often utilised colour as a primary subject, aiming to evoke emotional responses through the relationships between hues. In this print, the contrast between the high-chroma red and the cooler, darker tones of the background creates a sense of spatial tension. The work demonstrates his interest in the economy of means, where a few carefully placed shapes and colours communicate a specific visual energy. This piece reflects the artist's later career, during which he refined his approach to abstraction, favouring clean lines and flat planes of colour over complex narrative or representational imagery. The print remains a clear example of his ability to balance spontaneity with formal control, resulting in a composition that feels both immediate and considered.