Dream of a Tennis player 2017

Alexander Roitburd painted this "Dream of a Tennis Player" with visible brushstrokes and a muted palette, and you can almost feel the artist working, adding layers and shifting forms until the scene emerges. I can imagine Roitburd standing back, squinting, deciding where to add a dab of light or deepen a shadow. Look at the way the red of the couch contrasts with the dark background, making the nude figure appear even more languid and luminous. Those animals, those are Numbats, by the way! There's a conversation happening between the casual pose, the tennis racket, the Adidas sneakers, the couch and the Numbats, a dialogue full of unexpected juxtapositions and quirky humor. Roitburd, like all of us, was building on art history, borrowing from and twisting the styles and subjects that came before him. Painting is such a direct form of expression. It embraces uncertainty, and lets many meanings coexist.