Par où le bas blesse 1980

Francois Arnal made this painting, Par où le bas blesse, with what looks like oil and enamel, sometime around 1980. There’s a real sense of process here, of working through something, of letting the materials speak. The black line slashing across the canvas is so immediate, so assertive. It divides the space, but it also connects the red and brown frame to the drippy, dotted square. And those drips! They’re so physical, so much about gravity and the way paint behaves. They’re like tears or maybe condensation. The dots themselves seem carefully placed, then dissolved. The texture is smooth, almost industrial, except where the paint bleeds and drips. That dripping square feels like a little world of its own, suspended in the larger field of the canvas. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin, but dirtier, more punk. Arnal seems to suggest that art is a conversation, constantly building on what came before, but always with its own unique voice. Art doesn’t have to be perfect, sometimes it's the imperfections that make it so compelling.