White Horse (Waiting for Marina) 2016

Alfred Freddy Krupa made *White Horse (Waiting for Marina)* with paint and canvas. I can imagine this emerging from layers of pure red, and then that white horse! What is it doing there? It seems to be constructed from lines of paint – almost like a ghostly contour drawing. You can see the gesture of the artist in the way the white paint has been dragged across the canvas. It’s pretty thin and the red shows through. This gives the horse a kind of ethereal presence, as though it might disappear at any moment. Is the horse 'waiting'? Or is the artist waiting with the horse? I like how Krupa uses the branches of the surrounding trees to obscure parts of the horse's body. It's a clever trick that adds to the sense of mystery and makes you wonder what else is hidden in the painting. Artists are always in conversation, and I see a connection with Franz Marc's animal paintings here. It's painting as embodied expression - uncertain and ambiguous and open to lots of readings.