Utopia. Big Plan 2005

Pavlo Makov made this painting, Utopia. Big Plan, and, you know, big plans are always about process, right? There's this grid, a foundation really, but it's all mottled and stained, like it’s been through something, which, let’s be honest, utopias usually do. I see the way the dark washes pool and bleed into the lighter areas. It's not about hiding the process, but about letting it be part of the story. Look at the top right corner. It’s got this weird eye-like shape, but it’s camouflaged, almost hidden. Is it watching, or being watched? Makes me think of Kurt Schwitters, how he pieced together fragments of the world into something new. But with Makov, it's less about collage and more about layering time, experience, and, yeah, some pretty heavy questions about what a perfect world even looks like.