Prehistoric Figure 1980

Charles Garabedian made this painting, Prehistoric Figure, with big, bold strokes and a palette that’s both earthy and otherworldly. You can almost feel him wrestling with the figure, scraping and layering paint, trying to bring this ancient vision to life. I imagine him thinking about how we’re all connected through time, reaching back to these primal roots. The red figure against the blue ground – it’s like he’s digging into the past, unearthing something raw and essential. Look at the way he’s rendered the arm, pointing, almost accusingly. It’s not about perfect anatomy; it’s about feeling the weight and force of that gesture. This is how Garabedian talks to the great history of painting, a conversation with cave painters and classical sculptors, re-imagined through a very contemporary lens. And it reminds me that painting isn’t just about what we see, but about what we feel and remember.