Untitled 2022

Here’s an Untitled piece by Alevtyna Kakhidze, made with what looks like felt-tip pens, maybe crayons, on paper. The directness of the marks and the rawness of the color are so upfront, there’s no hiding here. It’s like looking at someone’s diary. I am struck by how the quality of the line itself makes you feel something. There’s one figure, slumped, with a sort of red cloud hovering nearby; the cloud seems to speak for the figure, or maybe threaten them. And then another figure, standing, holding a gun, next to a waving Russian flag. The marks are so immediate, and yet they speak to a much larger conflict. What’s interesting is, that although it’s such a simple image, it reminds me of some of Picasso’s more overtly political drawings, which were also about war and suffering. I guess art is always in conversation with itself, and with the world, isn’t it? Even when it’s at its most direct and seemingly artless.