Sem título 1991

This untitled piece was made as a print by Menez in 1991. It’s like a fresco gone wild, a frieze of figures and landscapes mashed together. Menez is playing with a limited palette, and the angel’s skin takes on a translucent, almost ghostly quality. It’s all about process, about layering and letting the underpainting peek through. Look at the bottom section, those grey and green shapes. They’re solid, geometric, and below the angels, and they give the feeling that the figures are free to float, to play. Then your eyes move to the angels. The figures are kind of wonky, the lines aren’t perfect, but that’s what makes them so alive. You can feel the artist’s hand, the energy of the making. The color palette feels limited, but that helps connect the figures to the geometric shapes, giving them life. Menez reminds me a little of Philip Guston, in the way he embraces imperfection and awkwardness. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful. It just has to be real.