Figure 1960

Mikuláš Medek made this painting called "Figure" using thick layers of brushstrokes, in a palette of blues, blacks, and reds. I imagine him layering these colors, adding the textures of the black over the blue to create this kind of veiled space. The painting is this strange, totemic figure—a black rectangle with a large, ghostly sphere above it. The surface feels built up, like a wall or a shield, protecting something. What's behind that door of darkness? The circular form hovers above, with what looks like two eyes, almost like an otherworldly mask gazing down. It is hard to know what Medek was thinking at the time, but the painting itself feels like he was working through some personal trauma, some fear. That little red dot is like a drop of blood in this abstract painting, and yet it holds the entire composition together. I'm reminded of other painters like Guston, who went through a period of abstraction before returning to figuration, as if the process of painting can be a way to arrive at a deeper, more authentic way of seeing and feeling.