The Big Picture 2002

Mark Kostabi’s painting ‘The Big Picture’ invites us into a vibrant and surreal studio scene filled with creative energy. Imagine Kostabi starting with the architecture, laying in blocks of cool color, structuring this space as a stage for his figures. I love that the artist includes figures of labour - people at work creating art and seemingly enjoying this process. It is a painting about painting, an exploration of the studio, full of angels, artists, and odd machinery. I can almost feel him moving around the canvas, placing each element with precision and care, building up layers of meaning and metaphor. The painting is so striking, it reminds me of work by Giorgio de Chirico, especially with those ghostly mannequin-like figures. Artists are constantly in dialogue, aren't they? Kostabi’s painting embraces ambiguity and invites multiple interpretations. It’s not just about what we see, but how we see and how we feel when we look.