Henry Inn No. 3 1975

Charles Garabedian made this painting, "Henry Inn No. 3," with visible layers and playful shapes. The colors in this painting are quiet, like a faded memory. Garabedian uses thin paint, almost like watercolor, but on a large scale, which gives it this airy feeling. Look closely at those horizontal lines running across the canvas. They’re not quite straight, are they? And they're almost like these musical staffs, on which the shapes and forms dance. Down at the bottom, there's this reddish, boxy shape, kind of like a stage. It anchors the whole piece, but also feels like it could tip over any second. Maybe this painting is an inn, a landscape, a theater – or all of them at once? He reminds me a bit of Alfred Jensen, a painter who also made art that doesn’t quite fit any category. It’s not a style so much as a sensibility, always questioning what a painting can be.