Dissonance 2018

Aaron Nagel made Dissonance in 2018. The palette is dark and moody. The way the tones shift from warm to cool makes the painting a tender dance. I wonder if Nagel was thinking about a Caravaggio when he was laying down these strokes. Was he thinking about the light, the shadow, and the drama? I always wonder what it was like for the artist to make it. Did it come easily, or did he have to scrape away at it over and over again? The gesture on the left side of her face, where the light hits, has this real sense of volume. There’s something about that gesture, which makes the whole painting alive, like a conversation. Painters are always talking to each other across time; they’re inspiring each other. This painting embodies ambiguity, a sense of not quite knowing, and yet somehow, still feeling.