Dragon Head 1969

Ivan Eyre made this large painting, Dragon Head, and when you look at the surface, the colour choices, it feels like he's not just depicting a scene but inventing a world, bit by bit. Look at the muted tones, they are earthy and kind of dreamlike. It is thin paint, like watercolour, but it builds up these layers that give it a real presence, a weight. See the way the white lines cut through everything, like a design laid over the top? It's like he's mapping out connections, drawing us into this strange world. Eyre reminds me a bit of Philip Guston, someone else who wasn’t afraid to let his imagination run wild and use painting as a way to explore the absurd and the profound.