Twen Australia 1966

Aat Verhoog made this work, "Twen Australia," as a print. The title makes me think of teenage magazines, but it's not slick or glamorous. It's more like raw exposure. Look at the way the figures are rendered. The artist's process is laid bare, with each line hesitant yet deliberate. The figures almost seem incomplete, sketched in with the bare minimum of detail, yet full of suggestive energy. It's like Verhoog is inviting us to imagine the rest. There's something very visceral about the marks around the head of the figure on the right. Are they underwater? Are they exploding with thought? I love that ambiguity. Verhoog reminds me a little bit of Philip Guston in that he isn't afraid to let his process show. It's all part of the conversation. Art doesn't have to be so serious, you know? It can be playful, exploratory, and unresolved, like this print.