Vegetables 1986

Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas made this painting, Vegetables, with oils, and it's like watching the garden grow right there on the canvas. The way he builds up the layers, the greens and browns, it’s all about the process, the materiality. See how the paint isn't trying to trick you into thinking it's something else? It's paint, thick in some spots, thin in others, dragging across the surface of the canvas. Take a look at the cabbage in the center, how each leaf is a flurry of brushstrokes. It’s not about making it look real, but about the rhythm of the paint, the gesture of the hand. I’m reminded of Guston when I look at this. There’s a similar love for the clumsy, the awkward, a refusal to be too precious. It's a painting that’s not afraid to be itself, a messy, beautiful thing. It’s an invitation to see painting, and maybe even the world, with fresh eyes.