From Thoughts of Alchemy 1947

Boris Margo made this painting, From Thoughts of Alchemy, with what looks like oil on canvas. The alchemy isn’t just in the title, it’s in the way the thing feels – like he's turning lead into gold right before your eyes. Margo layers the paint with these sharp, angular lines and bursts of radiant yellows. It's all about energy, like a mad scientist's lab where experiments are always in progress. The paint isn't trying to hide anything; it's got texture and isn't afraid to be itself. There’s a kind of explosive mark-making, as if the painting is in the process of becoming, or breaking apart. Look at that small blue triangle near the top, surrounded by radiating, energetic yellows, how it holds the composition together. It reminds me a bit of some of Picabia's machine paintings, though Margo goes into stranger territory. What is so attractive about painting is that it doesn’t pretend to offer answers. It’s OK to just wander, get lost, and let the painting be.