Merida 1967

Afro made this painting, Merida, with oil paint, and what strikes me is how he’s put it on, this kind of thin, scrubby, draggy way. You know, like he’s pushing the paint around, but not really covering up what’s underneath. The painting’s made up of these geometric shapes, but they're soft, they're not hard-edged, and they're kind of floating in this creamy space. I imagine Afro might have been thinking about the push and pull of color, how red sits against that teal or the black, playing with warm and cool, and the way these colors create a sense of depth even though it's flat. It feels like a conversation with other painters like, say, Rothko or maybe even de Kooning. And there's this one gesture, a little flick of the wrist with the brush, that makes me feel like he’s really in the moment, just letting the paint do its thing. You know, painting isn’t about answers, but more about asking questions.