Stage 8 1982

Ernie Barnes painted this picture of a woman outside ‘Stage 8’ with oil on canvas. The first thing that strikes me is the way he lays down these thin, almost translucent layers of paint, like he's building up the image in delicate washes. It’s like he’s allowing the process itself to be visible, embracing the materiality of the paint. Check out the woman's skirt, how the pale lavender and white blend into each other, giving it this ethereal, almost ghostly quality. There’s an incredible lightness to it, a sense of movement frozen in time. The greyish-blue of the wall is also interesting, creating a backdrop that feels both solid and ambiguous. The figure is carefully positioned in front of the door so that her skin reflects the floor. Barnes reminds me a little of Philip Guston, in the way he embraced figuration, but also in his willingness to let the paint do its thing, to let the process guide the image. Art isn’t about answers, it’s about questions, about possibilities.