Horse Political 2009

This is Alexander Roitburd’s ‘Horse Political,’ painted with oils, likely on canvas. The handling of the paint is quite direct, with noticeable brushwork. This contributes to an expressionistic feel, heightened by the somewhat lurid colors and slightly surreal composition. We see a political figure astride a rearing horse, set against a landscape that seems both familiar and strange. The artist’s approach to applying paint—thick in some areas, thinly washed in others—adds to the dynamic sense of the scene. Roitburd was clearly less interested in technical refinement than in conveying a mood, with a kind of rough-and-ready quality that feels of a piece with its subject: the spectacle of politics itself. The visible labor in the work, those assertive brushstrokes, mirror the work, effort, and even theatrics of political performance. Ultimately, ‘Horse Political’ demonstrates that even with traditional materials like oil paint, an artist's choices about process can powerfully convey meaning, blurring the lines between the crafted object and the social context it reflects.