Star 2011

Arsen Savadov made this painting, Star, with a brushy application of paint in a fantastical palette of pinks, blues, and fleshy tones. I can almost feel the artist shifting his weight, stepping back from the canvas, squinting, then lunging forward again to make his mark. Imagine being in Arsen's head when he made this. He probably didn't know what he was doing - who ever does when they start a painting? But he persisted, adding this, subtracting that, until a scene emerged of figures in this strange primordial landscape. The paint is applied in thin washes, almost like watercolor, and the figures have an ethereal, dreamlike quality. I wonder about the strange red cords connecting the figures to each other and to the landscape. Are they umbilical cords, lifelines, or something else entirely? Ultimately, it's not about knowing exactly what Arsen was thinking or doing, but how the painting makes us feel and think. And how it connects to the work of other painters, all of us in conversation, exploring the possibilities of paint and the human condition.