Nature morte cosmique 1988

Eugene Brands made this painting, Nature morte cosmique, with visible brushstrokes and a pared-down palette of cream, white, red-brown, and black. It feels spontaneous, like an exercise in color and shape, with the freedom of not having to get it "right". The material handling here is key; Brands lays down confident, fluid strokes, but never blends them completely. Up close, you can see the texture of the paint itself. The little dabs of white against the black background feel like stars in a night sky. What strikes me most are the forms, like ghostly echoes of still life objects, the white form to the left has a foot, like a strange chalice, and the red-brown shape to the right, an echoing bowl. These simple shapes, rendered so directly, bring to mind the playful abstraction of Joan Miró. It’s like Brands is inviting us to see beyond the surface, to find the cosmos in the everyday.