Nakchivan 1974

Sattar Bahlulzade made this landscape, Nakchivan, using expressive marks to construct a topography, and the resulting image feels really contemporary. What strikes me is the materiality of the piece. It's all about these rhythmic, almost scribbled marks, laid down in colored inks or maybe thinned paint. Look closely, and you'll see how each stroke builds the form. The mountains in the background are rendered with these quick, blue hatch marks, while the foreground explodes in a riot of red, yellow, and green dashes, like the landscape is alive and buzzing with energy. My eye keeps returning to the lower part of the composition. The red and yellow strokes almost vibrate against the blue of the mountains. It reminds me a little of Van Gogh, but Bahlulzade has his own way of seeing and describing the world, not just what it looks like, but what it *feels* like.