Tackle 2004

Malcolm Morley made "Tackle" with paint, and what strikes me is the dance between the flat surface and the illusion of depth. I imagine Morley getting lost in the physicality of the medium, pushing the paint around to capture the intense energy of the moment. Look at the way he renders the helmets – how he suggests their rounded forms with subtle shifts in tone and color. What do you think he was thinking when he made this? Was he interested in the sport itself, or was it more about capturing the raw emotion and physicality of the players? That one brushstroke, the way he suggests movement, it’s all so evocative. Morley is in dialogue with other artists, and here he's in conversation with abstraction and realism. And that’s what painting is all about, isn’t it? It’s about pushing boundaries, experimenting with new ways of seeing, and leaving room for interpretation.