Without Borders 2011

Peter Max painted ‘Without Borders’ with a brushy confidence, laying down these joyful colours like he’s composing a song. The colors are loud and happy, and the whole thing feels like a psychedelic sunrise. It's so material, you can practically feel the texture of the paint. The brushstrokes are visible, they're not trying to hide anything. Thick strokes of white and lavender make up the clouds, sitting right on top of the thin, washy blues of the sky. There's this red boat, kind of floating in the water, and the reflections are just these juicy daubs of yellow and red. It’s all about feeling, not about precision. Max's work reminds me a little of Milton Avery, in the way he simplifies landscapes into blocks of color, although Avery has a quieter palette. There's a conversation happening here, across generations, about how we see and feel the world, and how we can paint that feeling. It is the kind of art that knows that there are no hard and fast rules.