Gray Picture 2022

Iwo Zaniewski’s, Gray Picture, made with I’m guessing, pastel, is a study in subdued mark-making. Look closely, and you’ll see how each stroke builds a sense of depth and texture, less like a depiction, and more like the memory of a space. The materials, you know, they really speak. The chalky surface, the way the light catches on the grain, it’s all very physical. My eye keeps going to that red lamp, how its glow is almost snuffed out by the gray, it's a little sad, a little funny. Zaniewski reminds me a bit of Bonnard, actually, this interest in interior spaces, intimate scenes, though Zaniewski’s work feels rougher, less polished, in a way that really speaks to our time. Ultimately, it embraces the beauty of not knowing, the joy of seeing something new each time you look.