Occupy Utopia 2013

Alaa Awad made this painting called 'Occupy Utopia' using paint that seems laid on with bold, intuitive strokes. It's got a real energy, like the artist was in a hurry to get these figures down, to capture the feeling of this imagined place. The materiality of the paint is something else – thick in places, creating texture, but also thin enough to let the red underpainting peek through. The colours, that earthy red and the unnatural greens of the figures, create a tension that keeps your eye moving. Look at the figures bending backwards at the front of the boat. It's a distorted, awkward gesture. It disrupts the balance of the whole picture, making it feel like this 'Utopia' isn't quite as perfect as it seems. Awad's work often plays with historical imagery and contemporary themes, a bit like how Philip Guston mixed comic-book styles with art-historical references. There's no neat and tidy meaning here, and that’s exactly the point.