Orient 1957

Jean-Michel Atlan made this painting, Orient, with big, bold gestures and a dark palette against a bright yellow ground. It looks like it came together through a back-and-forth of doing and undoing. I can imagine Atlan, in his studio, wrestling with these forms, trying to get them just right. It's all angles and curves, jagged teeth and soft spots. The paint looks thin and chalky and the marks are really physical, like he's digging into the surface. There's one curving shape that looks like a question mark—or maybe a weird, wonky smile. This piece reminds me of other artists like Asger Jorn, who were also pushing abstraction to its limits. It’s as if all these artists were in a big conversation, riffing off each other, trying to find new ways to express themselves. Painting is like that: one big, messy, beautiful conversation that never really ends. And this painting is definitely part of that conversation, full of all its ambiguity and uncertainty.