Untitled 1976

Here's an untitled painting by Jules Perahim, its colour palette is muted but striking, a mix of dusky blues and golds with flashes of black, red, green, and pink. I can imagine Perahim building up the surface, layering shapes and forms, letting the painting emerge through trial, error, and intuition. What was he thinking as he built up these fantastical creatures? Perhaps he was drawn to automatism and the unconscious. What if Perahim was trying to create something between the real and the imagined? The paint looks thin, applied in layers to build up these mysterious figures. Look at the elegant curve of the horse-like figure’s back, how it flows into the angular lines of its legs. It almost seems to mimic Picasso or Ernst but Perahim's surreal forms feel distinctly his own. Painters are always in conversation, building on each other's ideas, even across time. Painting’s an embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.