Taches solaires 1938

Wolfgang Paalen made this painting, Taches solaires, with oils, maybe searching for a way of seeing the invisible. The whole thing feels atmospheric, as if something is emerging or dissolving. Check out the dominant hues of grey, brown, and ochre, with a few pops of colour pulling you in and out, like memories or dreams. I can almost imagine Paalen’s process, the layering and removing, the push and pull. You know, that sensation of building up an image, only to let it fall apart to make way for a new configuration of thought. And those skeletal, face-like forms. The shapes are softly painted; look how they seem to haunt the surface, alluding to something just out of reach. Then, the stark line and intense colors of the drip, which seems to anchor the composition. This kind of tension is interesting; it makes the painting active and alive. Painters are always speaking to each other across time, riffing on ideas, responding to art history, and discovering ways of seeing the world anew.