Untitled 1978

Amilcar de Castro made this painting with ink on paper, and it feels like the kind of work you do while thinking about something else. The marks are direct, confident. You can tell a brush was used, but it's more like a way of making a plan than obsessing over details. It's all about the interplay of black lines creating these almost architectural shapes, interrupted by jolts of primary color. See how the red rectangle sits nestled within the black? And then, a little further along, a tiny blue and yellow combo. These splashes of color punctuate the starkness, like afterthoughts or maybe the real point of the whole exercise. The ink isn't trying to hide anything; you see the strokes, the way the brush drags and fades. The whole thing has a casual, open feeling, like a conversation. It makes me think of Franz Kline, but with a Brazilian twist. Ultimately, it's a reminder that art doesn't always have to shout; sometimes, it whispers, and you have to lean in to hear it.