Perspectiva 2000

This geometrical architectural study by David Ligare is painted with acrylic on panel. It's an enigmatic picture, I wonder, did he build it from his imagination or is it a real place? He's using a cool palette. See those greens and greys, pale blues and lavenders? It feels clean, clinical almost, yet bathed in an Italian sun. Look how the light strikes the building! Maybe Ligare was chasing the light when he made this, following it as it moved across the architecture. He’s thinking about classicism, and the rules of perspective, making space seem rational. But the shadow is so long, which gives this serene image an ominous feel. Painters have been borrowing from each other for centuries, and I see the influence of De Chirico and Piero della Francesca. Like them, Ligare creates work that has a stillness, as if time has stopped. And it's this that gives his painting its haunting quality.