Untitled 1984

Vasile Kazar made this untitled watercolour painting, seemingly in one go, like automatic writing. The figures were scribbled and spattered into being. Look how he applied thinned pigments to the surface, allowing the figures to emerge from the paper’s whiteness, almost like ghosts. I bet he was in the zone, you know, mind empty, hand moving! I sympathize with that state. I’m struck by the palette—the blues, reds, and blacks. I can sense the hand of the artist in each of the brushstrokes, each one loaded with feeling. The way he let the medium drip makes me think of other painters, like Francis Picabia, for example. Painting is like one big conversation across generations. Artists riff off each other, responding to what came before and pushing the conversation forward. Kazar’s painting is a great example of that ongoing dialogue. It’s a reminder that painting is so alive and ever-changing.