Navigator 2015

Andrey Remnev painted this allegorical image of Venice, it seems, using very fine brushes and thin layers of oil paint. I can imagine him, brush in hand, trying to find the correct tone for the woman’s powdered face and the sky behind, that almost radioactive orange. What’s the deal with the mask? Is she hiding or revealing? The pattern on her dress is amazing, almost like detailed metalwork. And beneath, Remnev has painted gondolas as if they are holding her up like some crinoline. He’s not afraid of detail, look at those hands. There's some serious precision. I can feel the artist wrestling with what to leave in and what to take out. It’s like he’s performing some kind of strange alchemy. In a world of Instagram filters and instant images, it’s exciting to think someone is still taking the time to make paintings like this.