Workshop 2017

Joshua Flint's "Workshop" looks like it was painted yesterday but also like it’s a faded fresco from a forgotten time. Look at how the scene blurs the line between inside and outside, reality and dream! The textures are key here. Flint uses thin washes of color, letting the paint drip and pool, especially in the waterfall area. You can almost feel the dampness of the space, the cool air mixing with the earthy smell of the workshop. Then there's the thick impasto on those draped forms - are they sculptures or just covered objects? I see them as ghosts, veiled figures presiding over this strange scene. That muted palette—ochre, gray, and soft greens—creates a sense of melancholy, like an old photograph. You could put him alongside someone like Gerhard Richter, who also blurred the lines between painting and photography, representation and abstraction. Art is all about visual conversations. The real workshop is in your head.