Insouciance 1961

Jean Dubuffet made this print called 'Insouciance' with, I think, lithography, and it’s got this overall kind of blasé attitude. The texture is just everywhere, right? Like life! I'm always curious about the surface of a print. This one has so much going on! Those layers of ink are palpable; you can almost feel the grit. I imagine Dubuffet really pushing the limits of the litho stone, getting every last bit of texture he could wring out of it. Look at the way the blacks and grays kind of swim together. It is like he is not trying to represent anything except maybe just the sheer density of existing. There is something about the insouciance, that slightly rough, devil-may-care quality, that reminds me of Cy Twombly’s work. Both seem to suggest that art isn't about perfection, but about embracing the messy, unpredictable nature of existence.