Cap d'Ail 1961

This is 'Cap d'Ail' by Conrad Marca-Relli, and it looks like it was made with canvas and paint. I can only imagine the artist piecing all these shapes of striped canvas together. It's like they are finding the perfect fit, not just in terms of composition, but also feeling. Those stripes of red, blue, and black over the raw canvas create this patchwork that's both exciting and unsettling. I think of someone like Schwitters and his collages, except here, Marca-Relli is using paint to build form. Each gesture, each placement of color, feels like a conversation. There's a rhythm to it, a kind of visual music playing out across the surface. You see how the surface has a life of its own, and the colors almost hum against one another. I imagine that Marca-Relli, like all artists, was in dialogue with other artists, not just living ones but long gone too. Painting isn't just about what you see, it's about how you feel and think, and how those thoughts and feelings keep evolving as you look.