Aftermath 2021

Anne Neely's painting, Aftermath, is a trip, a real atmospheric, emotional landscape. I can almost feel the cool surface of the support beneath my fingers. I imagine Neely in the studio, layering translucent washes, maybe acrylic, maybe something else, letting it drip and pool, building up a history of touch. The black scrawls at the bottom feel like distant ruins or maybe just marks, floating. It's as if Neely is having a conversation, not just with the canvas, but with a whole history of painters who have tried to capture light and space. The way she lets the colors bleed and blend reminds me of Turner, but with a rawer, more contemporary feel. I see this painting as part of an ongoing dialogue, artists responding to each other across time, each mark a gesture of inquiry, a reaching out into the unknown. It invites us to linger, to question, and to find our own meaning in its depths.