Composition 1968

Nikos Nikolaou made this painting called 'Composition' at an unknown date, probably with oils. It’s got these two figure-like shapes floating in a brown space. The way Nikolaou uses paint is interesting; it’s like he’s carving out these forms with color. The bodies are painted with these smooth, buttery, honey colors, and the ground around them is this murky, dark brown. Look closely and you'll notice that the brown paint seems applied in swift, gestural brushstrokes, giving the background a sense of movement and texture. The hands, how they’re sketched, almost like they're holding their heads – it gives the whole thing a raw, kind of vulnerable feel. This reminds me of Guston. Not his later, cartoony stuff, but his earlier, more abstract paintings where shapes were always on the verge of becoming something else. Art's always about seeing what others have done and then messing with it, pushing it somewhere new, wouldn't you agree? Anyway, this piece invites you to think about what it means to see, to feel, and maybe even to question what you think you know about bodies and shapes.