Linda II 1974

John Kacere’s ‘Linda II’ emerges as a hyperrealist painting, meticulously rendered with oil on canvas. It is a painting of folds. Folds of fleshy buttocks, and folds of fabric. There is a cool, blue background, but the skin tone is warm, as is the wrinkled fabric. The fabric flows and clings, a very delicate surface is caught by the light. I can imagine Kacere hunched over the canvas, obsessively focused on re-creating the texture and tone, attempting to flatten the curves into a single plane. Maybe he listened to classical music? Or pop? Did he sit or stand? Was he nervous? The whole thing is very controlled, and makes me think of other process-driven painters like Chuck Close. Ultimately, painting is an embodied expression, isn't it? A gesture that unfolds over time, and we can witness the accumulation of decisions and revisions. Like any good poem, it embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, inviting us to see, think, and feel in new ways.