Merida 1967

Afro Basaldella’s ‘Merida’ is an abstract painting built up with oil on canvas, and it feels so much like a conversation. The colour palette is warm and inviting, dominated by reds and yellows, yet punctuated with touches of black and a surprising triangle of turquoise, like a quirky interruption. The paint is applied in layers, some thin and transparent, others thick and opaque, giving the surface a beautiful, tactile quality. There’s a particular red form near the center – sort of round but also angular – that seems to hold the composition together, pushing out, yet also receding. This painting reminds me a bit of work by Milton Resnick, another painter interested in how simple forms can convey complex emotions and experiences. ‘Merida’ invites us to embrace ambiguity, and to find our own meanings within its fluid, shifting shapes.