Three colors on top 1991

Sadamasa Motonaga made this painting called “Three colors on top” with paint, and a sense of play. Look at how Motonaga creates a scene with just a few simple shapes and bold colors. I love how the black form dominates the canvas, its jagged edges almost vibrating against the flat red background. Those three little shapes on top, they remind me of a quirky family portrait, each one a different flavor. There’s something so satisfying about the contrast between the smooth, almost cartoonish figures and the rough texture of that big black shape. It’s like he’s playing with different languages of painting, mixing the slick with the raw. Motonaga's got a lot in common with someone like Elizabeth Murray, both pushing the boundaries of shape and color. It's a reminder that art is always in conversation with itself, constantly reinventing and reimagining what painting can be.