The Day Everything Changed Forever 2016

Bo Bartlett, born the same year as me, made this painting called "The Day Everything Changed Forever" and, I tell you, hasn’t that already happened a few times? The colors are muted and yet luminous, like a memory being recalled. I can see them—two girls on a red bicycle, one perched on the handlebars, dresses billowing. You know, it's interesting to think about how a painting comes into being, shifting and emerging through all the changes. It's all in the painting – a little like life, isn't it? Looking at this, I wonder about the way it can almost feel like flying—a moment of pure freedom and anticipation. Bartlett is working within this tradition of painters making paintings of other paintings – like Manet and Hopper. There's an ongoing conversation here, across time. Each gesture communicates feeling and meaning, and these gestures inspire one another’s creativity. It’s an exchange of ideas where ambiguity and uncertainty embrace multiple interpretations.