Il pendolo 1963

Afro Basaldella made Il pendolo, or "The Pendulum", in 1966; it's a painting where the process feels like its own subject. The underlayer of warm yellows and pinks feels almost like a memory, loosely covered with decisive marks in red and black that really activate the surface. There's a sense of quickness, like Afro is responding to the previous layers with each stroke, building up a history of decisions, and indecisions! Look how the thick blacks really sit on the surface, anchoring those freely drawn lines, whilst the reds feel almost translucent, stained into the canvas. Do you get the impression that these are marks that have been made and unmade, like the artist is thinking out loud, working through the problem in front of him? It reminds me of Guston, but with a lightness and optimism that is distinctly Afro. Isn't it amazing how paint can hold so much possibility?