Modern Times 1966

Ralph Fasanella made this oil on canvas painting called 'Modern Times' and look at how he has used the medium to create a dreamscape of the modern world. I can imagine Ralph really getting stuck in, layering and layering to build up the shapes of the buildings and the people. It looks like he has used a limited palette, mainly reds, greens and blues which creates a sense of unity within the composition. I feel the textures are not smooth but broken up with small brushstrokes almost like mosaic pieces coming together. There's this one area, the swirling red sky, where the paint seems to be applied more loosely. It gives me this feeling of unease, like the modern world is not all that it seems! Fasanella was really interested in social justice. Maybe, just maybe, he’s channeling those concerns through these expressive brushstrokes. You can see other painters such as Stuart Davis feeding into his art. Ultimately, it’s up to us to find our own meaning within the painting.