Untitled 1990

Antonio Palolo made this painting, medium unknown, with what seems like an intuitive sense for the process of layering. There’s something about the way the muted blues and greens are structured within that hard, almost brutalist, red frame, that gets me. I can see the hand of the artist, how the paint has been dragged and layered, revealing the history of its making. Look closely, and you will notice how the texture is uneven, with thin washes and areas where the paint is built up. Then there are these vertical stripes in the middle, each subtly different, kind of humming with their own frequency. I’m put in mind of Agnes Martin and the way she used grids to create a space for quiet contemplation, but Palolo brings a messier, more human touch. You can feel the artist grappling with the materials. It's like a conversation, with no fixed answers.