Drought 1960

Lars Bo made this print, 'Drought', with a flurry of marks and a muted, earthy palette. It’s easy to imagine Bo hunched over a plate, coaxing these strange creatures into being through a process of trial and error. I feel for him; what’s it like to be the guy who has to conjure these things from nothing? These spiky forms almost feel like they're exploding outwards, or maybe imploding inwards, driven by forces we can only guess at. There are marks that resemble eyes that stare out at us. Are they looking at us or looking for something? Look closely and you’ll see the texture is dry, cracked. It echoes the title, ‘Drought’. Painters are always in conversation with each other across time, so when I look at this work, I see echoes of Ensor and Klee. They are all driven by a similar kind of creative impulse. I believe painting is an embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty. We're all just figuring things out as we go along, hoping something interesting emerges in the process!