contour

"The contour in Francis Bacon is what Deleuze describes as a "place of an exchange in two directions: between the material structure and the Figure, and between the Figure and the Field. The contour is like a membrane through which double exchange flows" (13). This exchange links the different aspects of the painting together in a way that subverts narrative: "If a painting has nothing to narrate and no story to tell, something is happening all the same, which defines the functioning of the painting" (13). The contour in Bacon's paintings establish a relationship through which things are linked together." Lindsey Collins nwe.ufl.edu