Dear Brigitte 1965

This poster for ‘Dear Brigitte’ by Jack Davis—wow, what a draftsman!—it's like a wild explosion of ink on paper, a real cartoon frenzy. I can imagine Davis hunched over his drawing board, wrestling with the composition. You can see that back and forth in the energy of the line, the cross-hatching building up tone, creating this sense of depth and chaos. It reminds me of some of Philip Guston’s later, more cartoonish works, but with a commercial zing. The exaggerated features, the way the characters jostle for space, it's all so dynamic. And that lettering! Each letter seems to have its own personality, jumping off the page with a kind of manic energy. It makes you wonder how the artist might’ve approached the task, and how much intention was involved in each mark. Painting, like any art form, is just a long conversation, and this poster is a funny, frenetic contribution.