Good Lord 2016

James Jean’s “Good Lord” is a masterclass in color and line, as it brings together a complex but harmonious range of textures and imagery. The painting is smooth, but the level of detail and variety of mark-making pulls you into the surface. In the upper left, you can see a single flower that feels both dense and light, as if it could float away. The whole piece has a fluid, dynamic quality, that swirls between figuration and something more abstract. The man at the center feels mythical with those stones stacked on his head, but he is also just a dude. I like that. Jean’s work reminds me a little of someone like Barry McGee. Both are able to create these intricate compositions, which embrace a kind of joyful ambiguity. Both offer an interesting model for how to balance complexity and clarity.