Circino XXXVI 2003

Pablo Palazuelo made this striking image, Circino XXXVI, and it really gets me thinking about the power of simplicity. It’s all deep blues and delicate white lines, right? You can almost feel the artist carefully considering each shape, each curve. I mean, imagine him there, in the studio, maybe late at night, pushing the paint around, wiping it away, trying again. Is the paint thick or thin? I feel like the artist’s hand is right there in the work, guiding those lines, making them sing. It is like the forms are trying to find a kind of harmony in their relationships to one another. Palazuelo's work reminds me of other artists who were trying to distill form to its essence, like Agnes Martin. They're all part of this ongoing conversation, you know? Passing ideas back and forth across time. And in the end, it's not about answers, but about the questions the painting asks.