Untitled 1977

Manoucher Yektai made this untitled oil painting with luscious and bold marks; its muted palette makes you want to sink right into it. This kind of artmaking is a process, like watching something unfold. The materiality of this piece is truly something else. Look at the texture, the way the paint sits, thick and generous! You can almost feel the weight of the oil on the canvas. The lower path is rendered in great thick strokes, some brown, some white, with pink edges. It’s like looking at a landscape that’s both there and not there. It’s solid and heavy, but it’s also dreamlike, dissolving into the atmosphere. Yektai’s painting reminds me a little of Joan Mitchell. Both artists create these emotional landscapes. With Yektai, as with Mitchell, it’s not about what it is, but how it makes you feel. It’s open to interpretation, changing with every viewing.