Flash Gordon 1980

Boris Vallejo painted this ‘Flash Gordon’ image sometime in 1980, and when I look at it, I think about how paintings materialize through a lot of labor and experimentation. I can imagine Vallejo in his studio, surrounded by sketches, photographs, and comic books, brushing these characters into being through many layers of oil paint. The figures of Flash Gordon and his companion emerge from a hazy, dreamlike background. There's a soft glow around them, and they look like they've stepped out of a pulp science fiction novel. The surface has this incredible smoothness – it's so different from the way I work with paint, all thick and clunky. I wonder what it must be like to have so much control, painting details with such realism. It's as if he's trying to capture something very specific, but also aiming for this timeless, heroic quality. For me, it’s another reminder that painting is this ongoing conversation, where artists are constantly borrowing, riffing, and remixing ideas, pushing the medium to new and unexpected places.