Untitled 1967

Vilen Barsky made this drawing with ink, and its all about the push and pull of darks and lights, and what happens in between. The ink bleeds out, forming a figure with a lot of weight, sitting down. The outlines are strong, but inside that border, it's all about diffusion. It's like Barsky let the ink do its thing, creating texture with all those tiny dots. There's something really satisfying about how the edges blur; it makes the image feel alive, like it's breathing. Look at the mark where the nose should be – it’s this dark, intense little void. That one spot changes the whole feeling of the piece. Barsky reminds me a bit of artists like Bill Traylor, who were also interested in the power of simple forms. It's cool how art can be so straightforward and yet say so much.