Koreny 1934

Jindrich Styrsky made "Koreny" with paint, and as I look at the image, I wonder what it was like for him to make this picture. The painting is divided into a watery blue on the left and a bruised red on the right with this pale fleshy form arching between the two zones, like a root reaching, or a limb detaching. The paint is brushed in horizontal strokes, allowing one colour to bleed into the next. I imagine Styrsky, layering thin washes, scraping back, and pushing forward. It is intriguing to think about what Styrsky was exploring in his wider practice, his interest in surrealism and eroticism. Perhaps this work shares concerns with painters like Gorky, Bacon, or de Kooning, artists who investigated organic forms, biomorphic shapes, and bodily disfiguration. Ultimately, artists are always learning from one another across time, inspiring each other’s creativity and different ways of seeing and thinking about the world.