Untitled 1967

Vilen Barsky made this untitled work in black ink, most likely on paper. It’s a study in process, this piece, isn't it? The stark monochrome lets the forms emerge like memories, almost against the artist’s control. The ink, so thin in places, spreads like a stain, while other areas are built up, pooling to a dark, dense mass. The edges are raw, with rivulets and drips. It feels immediate, visceral. Look at that line, snaking down the center. Is it a nose? A crack? A river? It divides the picture, but also connects it, like a conversation between control and chance. Barsky's interest in faces reminds me of Alexej von Jawlensky, who pushed portraiture to abstraction. Both artists knew that art can be felt more than understood. It’s about the push and pull, the questions, more than any definitive answer.