Wild Thing 2019

Mark Maggiori painted "Wild Thing" without telling us when, though I can tell you it's oil on canvas. It’s got this great, romantic, Western feel, but there’s something more contemporary going on too, maybe in the color palette, a kind of muted, slightly unreal tone. Look at how Maggiori lays down the paint. It’s not about hiding the brushstrokes; it's like each one is a little decision, a building block in this whole scene. The texture! It’s smooth in places, but then you see these areas, like in the horse's tail, where the paint is built up, thick and creamy. It gives the whole thing a physicality, like you could almost reach out and touch it. And that one stroke of turquoise on the cowboy’s back, like a shock of electricity running through the whole thing! It’s like he’s saying, "Yeah, I know this is a Western scene, but I’m gonna throw in something unexpected." Reminds me a little of those old Maynard Dixon paintings, but with a modern twist. It’s like art is just one big conversation, and Maggiori is jumping right in there, adding his own voice to the mix.