Joe Pennell's Printing Press 2004

Frank Mason made this painting of Joe Pennell's printing press with oil on canvas. The palette is subdued, almost monochromatic, and this gives it an atmospheric quality, like a memory or a dream. You can feel Mason feeling his way through the process, with erasures and overpainting. Look at the way he's handled the wall in the background. This is where the magic happens. The artist has rendered a group of figures, perhaps a classical scene, in a ghostly, ethereal manner. This area is built up with translucent layers of paint, creating a luminous effect. It’s like the figures are emerging from the wall, or perhaps fading back into it. This painting makes me think of Lucian Freud, someone else who knew how to capture the weight and feel of a real human body. Art is not just about what you see, but how you see it.