Reddish 2014

Timur Akhriev made this painting, "Reddish," most likely in oil on canvas, and it is just vibrating with color, right? There is a real tactile quality to the surface; you can almost feel the push and pull of the brushstrokes. It looks like Akhriev built up the image bit by bit, laying down these thick strokes of color and allowing each mark to remain visible. Look how he uses the direction of the marks to describe the form of the red headscarf, the way it twists and folds, or how the background is just a haze of red. Then there’s this moment of calm in the face, where the paint handling is a little more delicate, a little more modulated. The whole painting feels like a dance between control and chance. It reminds me a bit of Alice Neel’s portraits, with their bold colors and unapologetic brushwork. Painting, like life, is a conversation, an ongoing back-and-forth between intention and accident.