Loungin 1965

Victor Prezio made "Loungin" with oil paints, and the way he builds up the surfaces, it feels like he’s thinking through the paint. There’s an interesting contrast in the way he renders the figures. The woman in the foreground is painted with smooth, blended brushstrokes that highlight her soft skin, while the man on the couch has a more angular face, described with sharper lines and more broken color. It’s like Prezio is using the paint to sculpt and define the characters. Look at the money scattered on the floor, and then at the way the smoke rises from the man’s cigarette. These details feel intentionally placed to draw the eye around the composition. There's a certain kind of narrative ambiguity that reminds me of Philip Guston. Both artists use a type of figuration that lets the viewer fill in the gaps with their own stories, embracing the open-endedness of life itself.