Cosmic Wedding 1982

Sabin Balasa’s Cosmic Wedding is a real trip - a vision of humanity and nature painted in deep blues, greys, and fleshy tones. The artist has sectioned the painting into these little vignettes, and framed them with swooping tree-trunk-like curves. They remind me of Diego Rivera's murals, but if he'd been into yoga and cosmic oneness! The paint is applied in a way that gives everything a soft, almost blurred look, like you're seeing it through a dream. But there's also a real sculptural quality in the way the paint is built up, giving a tangible texture to the figures and forms. Take a look at the upper left, at the nude figure flailing in mid air: the artist almost seems to be carving the figures out of this cosmic goo, rather than painting them. The whole thing has this really raw, intuitive feel, like Balasa was just going for it, letting the paint and the process guide him. It’s like he’s in conversation with the likes of Remedios Varo or Leonora Carrington. Both of those artists also used a smooth, controlled paint application like that found in Cosmis Wedding, but painted enigmatic scenes with occult symbology.