Volcan ensorcelé 1974

Pierre Alechinsky conjured "Volcan ensorcelé" out of oil paint, and it's a trip. I mean, look at those colors! Yellow ochre, deep blue, green that verges on alien. The forms are outlined with such vigor, it's like the painting itself is exhaling. There's a narrative unfolding here, right? The volcano, that's alive, maybe even enchanted as the title says. See how the paint is thick, almost sculptural in places? It's like he’s building up this world, layer by layer. Then there are the little comic strip vignettes at the bottom, hinting at stories within stories. My eye keeps going back to the face at the top, those multiple eyes staring out as if to ask "what's it all mean?" I’m reminded a little of James Ensor, that master of the grotesque, but Alechinsky has his own wild energy. It’s a reminder that painting can be a conversation, across time, across styles, always open to new voices and interpretations.