Blasted Figure 1962

Robert Mallary made this drawing, Blasted Figure, with what looks like ink on paper. There's a real directness to the mark-making, isn't there? It feels like the brush was loaded up and then just *whoosh*, a single, committed gesture. You can almost see the artist's hand moving across the page, the pressure changing as the brushstrokes widen and narrow. It makes you think about the physicality of art, the way our bodies are involved in making and seeing. I love how the texture of the paper peeks through the ink, giving it a kind of grainy quality. And that little triangle near the bottom – is it a leg? A support? It anchors the whole thing, but also adds a touch of mystery. It reminds me a bit of Franz Kline's work, that same bold, abstract expressionism. But there's something unique here too, a kind of raw energy. It’s all about the gesture, the process, the moment of creation. Art doesn't always need to be neat and tidy, sometimes it's more interesting when it's a little bit "blasted."