Untitled 1990

This painting was made by Antonio Palolo, but we don’t know when. Look closely at the red border and the blues, ochres, and greens within. I love that there are no clues as to how this painting came into being. It could have been a struggle! I know that feeling - when a painting seems to be in charge, fighting me at every step. Or maybe it flowed out of him, a vision arriving on the canvas effortlessly. I think that's less likely though, there is something so worked in here. I want to know what Palolo was thinking when he made this. You see that stroke of yellow in the lower part? It's like a fissure. It holds so much feeling. The painting breathes a kind of conversation between Mondrian and Rothko and its own damn self. Isn’t it great how painters talk to each other across time? We keep each other going, keep pushing and pulling at what a painting can be.