Letter to My Son 1957

Asger Jorn made this 'Letter to My Son' with oil paint, and boy, does it have something to say. The colors are layered and kind of clashing, like a kid's drawing but with a grown-up's angst. It feels like he's using the paint to work through some stuff. The surface is alive with different textures. Look at the way the red smears across the top, fighting with the blues and yellows underneath. It's messy, sure, but there's a real energy there. Then you see these little figures peeking out, like ghosts in the paint. There's one with a blue chin near the bottom that reminds me of a Picasso. I can see the brushstrokes, the way he's pushing the paint around, almost sculpting it. It makes me think of other artists who weren't afraid to get their hands dirty, like Dubuffet. Jorn is not trying to hide anything, he's showing you the process, the struggle, the joy of making something out of nothing. And that, to me, is the most beautiful kind of art.