粉点绣球 2016

王新福’s painting, 粉点绣球, which translates to "Pink Hydrangea," presents a dense field of impasto marks. It’s a garden of paint, built up with a kind of joyful abandon. Looking closely, you can see the physicality of the medium. The paint is thick, almost sculptural. It feels like the artist wasn’t just painting the flowers, but building them, petal by petal. See how each dab of color stands alone, but also contributes to the overall impression of fullness. There’s one spot, right at the bottom, where you can see a stroke of pure, unmixed red. It stands out like a little exclamation point, a reminder that even within a field of complexity, there’s room for moments of pure, unadulterated expression. It reminds me a little of Joan Mitchell, in that way both artists use vibrant colour to create depth and movement. It’s a reminder that art is always in conversation, and that every mark is a response to something that came before.