Untitled 1961

This is a drawing by Vilen Barsky, with three figures sketched in ink on paper, maybe a bit like a more tragic, less cool version of those group portraits by Picasso. I imagine the artist moving quickly, almost frenetically, trying to get something down before it disappears. There’s a real vulnerability in that act of trying, of letting something emerge that is not quite formed, not quite resolved. The thin lines feel provisional, tentative, yet they have a confidence. The figures are naked, but they’re not sexualized. There's a raw, almost childlike quality to them, as if the artist were trying to get back to a more primal way of seeing. It reminds me of other artists who have explored similar territory, like Guston or Basquiat. They’re all after something that is just beyond reach, something that can only be glimpsed through the act of painting itself. They seem to be talking to each other. I feel their shared struggle.