I went to see Jack Whitten’s exhibition, The Greek Alphabet Paintings, when the show first opened at Dia Beacon in November 2022. Although I was familiar with many of Jack’s paintings, I had not previously seen any of these paintings, almost no one had. The paintings were conceived as a group; this was the first time so many of them could be seen together.

When Richard asked me to read his essay “Reality by Chance,” and to write for this issue of the Rail, I focused on his paragraphs about the thinking of Roland Barthes. I was especially interested in Richard’s observation that both Richard himself and Barthes welcomed assignments that would shift the subjects of their thinking.

It’s hard for me now to write about Jack. I feel his loss in a personal way—it’s almost impossible to be aware of anything other than this loss, and the opportunities that I won’t have to see and talk with Jack.