Le monde poétique II 1937

This is Rene Magritte’s painting, "Le monde poétique II," and it’s a trip! There's something about the super smooth application of paint that tickles me. It's like he's daring you to find a brushstroke, yet the image is so absurd, so obviously constructed. Look at that eyeball, casually lounging about with a tail like it's no big deal. It’s resting next to a cluster of perfect white pyramids, all under a sky that’s trying to be normal but is cracking up, literally. Magritte’s painting asks us to embrace the unexpected. To see the world not as it is, but as it could be if we just tilted our heads a little. The way the pyramids mimic the sharp angles of the cracks in the sky makes me think about how much control Magritte has over how he presents all of this chaos. Magritte reminds me a bit of Giorgio de Chirico, but with a wink. He knew how to make you think, and maybe even laugh. Art's not about answers, it's about keeping the conversation going.