Alvorada da Industria 1966

Manabu Mabe made *Alvorada da Industria* with paint, and probably a brush, and maybe a rag, who knows? It’s an open question! The mark-making here feels immediate, especially in the way the reds and whites are dragged across the surface, like quick notes in a dark melody. This isn’t a painting about sitting still. Look at the lower left, where a tendril of white paint reaches down, almost desperately. I love how the darkness threatens to swallow these gestures. The painting feels like a struggle between light and shadow, visibility and erasure. It reminds me of late Guston, or maybe even some of the abstract expressionists who were grappling with similar questions of form and content. Ultimately, what’s so great about art is that it is a conversation across time, where artists constantly build upon, question, and challenge one another's ideas.