Congo 1928

Aaron Douglas’s Congo is an incredible grisaille composition built with broad washes of grey ink on paper. You get a sense of the painting’s coming-into-being, shifting, and emerging through intuition. I sympathize with Douglas. I can imagine what it might have been like to create this. A world of grey values, of dark and light playing against each other. It almost feels like a memory, or a photograph faded by the sun. The texture isn’t thick. Instead the ink feels quite thin, translucent even. Look at the dancing figures in the center, how they seem to melt into one another. What I find fascinating is the way that gestures communicate feeling. The bodies are elongated and contorted, creating a rhythmic sense of movement. There's an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time. Douglas embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations. Congo isn't trying to tell you what to think or feel. It invites you to bring your own experiences, your own interpretations, to the canvas.