Untitled 1951

Luchita Hurtado’s "Untitled" seems to have come into being from a desire to explore different shapes and how they interact. The earthy palette, punctuated by the bright oranges, yellows, and blues gives it an otherworldly feel. I really sympathize with Luchita, thinking about what it must have been like to create this – a back-and-forth, the trial and error, adding shapes and editing them out. And then, these biomorphic forms started to emerge, almost like characters. The paint is pretty thick, and this gives the painting such a tactile, expressive quality, like it’s breathing! That vertical white line, slightly off center, cuts through the busyness, like a pause, a breath. And these almost childlike symbols! I'm reminded of Miro or even some of Gorky's more playful works. It's like she was in conversation with all these different painters while also forging her own path. It reminds me that artists are always in dialogue with one another across time, inspiring each other's creativity.