Bullfight 1945

This print, Bullfight, was created by Robert Vale Faro, and feels very immediate, like a quick response to something he saw. The image consists of fine white lines which, through the energy of their combination, achieve a strong and quite dark tonality. I'm really drawn to the way that Faro makes marks. There's a freedom in how the lines create abstract shapes, but then, suddenly, they define a face, or suggest movement. I can imagine him really letting go, but remaining in control, his subconscious finding a way into the art. The figures emerge from a patterned ground, but the setting is ill-defined, otherworldly almost. Is it a dream, or something he is reminded of? I think that the bullfight theme may be less literal, and more a psychological territory, a personal drama playing out in an almost surreal setting. Whatever the meaning, it's that tension between control and freedom that makes this image so compelling. I am reminded of the work of Forrest Bess, another artist who mined his subconscious and the landscape of his mind.