New York 1987

Rosalind Solomon's photograph, New York, captures a painter in their studio, surrounded by the tools and outputs of their artmaking process. The palette is strikingly monochrome, emphasizing the textures and forms. The image becomes a study of surfaces: the canvas, the skin, the fabric of the painter's shirt. I'm drawn to the unfinished paintings behind the artist. These works-in-progress reveal the layering and building-up that goes into painting, a process of adding and subtracting, revealing and concealing. Note the painting on the left with its Cubist-like forms, a composition of geometric shapes that suggest a world seen from multiple perspectives. The artist's gaze, direct and questioning, invites us into this world of experimentation and creative exploration. Solomon's photograph reminds me of Diane Arbus, who also captured the everyday lives of artists and other New Yorkers. Both photographers embraced the ambiguities and complexities of their subjects, inviting us to see the world through their unique lenses.