Clouds over the Sea 2002

Alexander Bogen made "Clouds over the Sea" with paint, and boy, does it feel like an act of searching. Bogen’s mark-making here feels totally process-oriented; it's like he’s figuring out the clouds as he goes. There’s a kind of push-and-pull happening on the canvas; the brushstrokes are visible, and the paint isn’t overworked, giving a real sense of immediacy. Look at that slash of yellow, how it divides the blue. It’s so thin, almost like a horizon line drawn with a razor. And then the dark, almost brutal strokes above, like the clouds are crashing down. It reminds me a little of Joan Mitchell's abstract landscapes, where the emotional experience of being in a place is more important than literal representation. But Bogen’s got his own thing, a kind of starkness and rawness that's all his own. Art isn't about answers, right? It's about the conversation, the questions.