Nervous City 1971

Red Grooms, that wonderful cartoonist, made "Nervous City" with paint and a lot of wild energy, really throwing himself into the chaos of urban life. I can imagine him, brush in hand, diving headfirst into the thick of it, splattering colors like a jazz musician improvising a solo. The paint's not precious; it's there to capture the grit and the glee of the city. Look at the way he's daubed the faces, all exaggerated features and manic expressions – it's like he's trying to squeeze every last drop of life out of his subject. I feel like he's riffing on everything from Mad Magazine to the Ashcan School of painting. I wonder if he was looking at Grosz? It’s like he’s saying, ‘Yeah, life’s messy, but isn’t it also a blast?’ And that, my friends, is what makes a painting worth looking at!