Armada 2015

Timur Akhriev made this painting, Armada, with oil on canvas. Check out that pink! And then the way the owl just barely appears out of it. I can imagine Timur working and reworking this image, wiping away, adding, subtracting until just the right thing appeared. He probably had to fight for it. The owl’s outstretched claw seems like a pretty deliberate and expressive mark that communicates intention. I’m curious about this super-saturated background color. Why this color? How does it relate to the artist’s wider practice and body of work, as well as the work of other painters? What did Helen Frankenthaler think of this work? I'm sure she would have said something interesting. Painters are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. I love the way painting embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations and meaning.