Claire Obscure 1987

Paul Guiragossian made this painting, Claire Obscure, with oil paint on canvas, though we don't know exactly when. Look how the paint is built up, thick and juicy, especially in that glowing yellow section. You can almost feel the brushstrokes, right? For me, that's the beauty of painting – seeing the process, the artist's hand right there on the canvas. The title, "Claire Obscure," hints at the push and pull between light and dark, and you can totally see that in the painting. The way he uses these vertical stripes of color and shade makes me think of figures, maybe standing close together in a crowd? Each stroke feels like a little decision, a response to what came before. Guiragossian’s style reminds me a bit of Diebenkorn; the way he balances abstraction with a sense of place or figure. And like Diebenkorn, he leaves plenty of room for interpretation. It’s a painting that invites you to get lost in its layers, to find your own meaning in the dance of light and shadow.