L'Arnaque (The Swindle) 1962

Jean Dubuffet made this painting in 1962, I’m not sure with what, but it looks like a party! It’s so alive with juicy, bright colors and an urgency in the way the paint’s been slapped on. Dubuffet was interested in artmaking as a direct process, and you really feel that here. The texture is immediate, almost like wet plaster; the colors aren't blended but exist side-by-side, pushing against each other. Look at the figures in the foreground, they are literally thrown together, with loose brushstrokes giving the impression of perpetual motion. And then there's the writing! Blocky and urgent, the text almost becomes the image, as if Dubuffet wants us to feel the words more than read them. Dubuffet was obsessed with the art of the outsider and the untaught and this work feels connected to that. I can’t help but also think of Cy Twombly, another artist interested in mark making, handwriting, and graffiti. Art is this beautiful, ongoing conversation. One big, gorgeous, messy swindle!