BOATS ON SITRA COAST 1983

Rashid Al Khalifa made 'Boats on Sitra Coast' with paint and a brush, probably on canvas. I like how the composition is a series of marks, some short, some long, that give you a sense of light reflecting off of water. The materiality of this piece is lovely. The paint isn’t overly thick, but you can see the movement of the brush strokes. Like, notice how the brushstrokes of the water become more horizontal as the water gets closer to the sand? It's almost like Al Khalifa is turning the water into land with paint. Very cool. The red boat is also fantastic – so much visual impact in such a small area! It's like a punctuation mark. This piece makes me think of Wayne Thiebaud with his very specific and lovely color palettes. It reminds us that art is always in conversation with itself and that it’s up to us to join in.