Balancing the Budget 1988

Mark Kostabi's, Balancing the Budget, painted in 1988, shows a flattening of form using simple shapes to express a feeling or idea, which in this case is open to interpretation. The shapes have been rendered with thin layers of paint that allow for a sense of depth and luminosity to be achieved. The color palette is limited, mostly skin tones, against a background of black, with highlights picked out in white, and details added in blue and pink. These details are what create a visual vocabulary of signs and symbols. Look at the way Kostabi used thin glazes of paint to create the illusion of the legs and torso. You can see how the legs are like hollow containers, each holding different objects, the dollar sign being the most visible, suggesting the idea of the body as a vessel for commerce. This relates to the work of artists like Phillip Guston, who also use simple forms to tell stories. It shows art is more of a conversation across time than a declaration.