Espiritude 2019

Vincent Xeus’s "Espiritude" appears to emerge as an intuitive response, a kind of shifting and finding through the act of painting. I love the way the blue paint has been dragged across the canvas, how it gives this horse such a soulful presence! It is a blue horse. Maybe a dream? It feels so much about feeling, it transcends merely depicting an animal. It reminds me of some of my own painting processes – that constant dance between intention and accident. That single white stroke down the horse’s face feels almost defiant, like a mark of hope. I imagine Xeus in the studio, maybe wrestling with his own demons, but finding some kind of freedom in the sweep of the brush. Artists are always in conversation with each other, across time, inspiring each other. I think it is a painterly expression, that embraces ambiguity, uncertainty, and multiple meanings.