Detail 2015

This detail by Saul Zanolari, made in 2015, has these strange tendrils painted in scarlet that explode like a firework. They make me think of blood vessels, or maybe the roots of some weird plant, pushing out, searching. I like to imagine Zanolari working on this, layering the paint, figuring out how to make these forms both strange and familiar. The central, circular form, with its inscription of Roman numerals, anchors the composition. Around it, everything else seems to flow and grow organically. It's almost like peering into the inside of something, a hidden world made visible through paint. When I look at this painting, I'm reminded of how much painting relies on touch, on the physical act of applying pigment to a surface. It's a bodily process, full of feeling, intention, and risk. Artists are in an ongoing conversation. Each painting is a new proposition, another way of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world.