Energy Apples 1980

Audrey Flack's "Energy Apples" is a wild ride of color, form, and pure painterly delight. I imagine Flack in her studio, surrounded by brushes and paints, diving into a world of vibrant colors. The composition is like a big party, with all those oranges, reds, and greens bouncing off each other. Look at how the light catches those water droplets on the apples—it's like a celebration of the senses! I imagine Flack thinking about what these colors do when they’re next to each other. The fruit looks hyper-real, yet the colour palette is slightly artificial and painterly. I think she knew exactly what she was doing. You see the artist's palette there? As a painter, I love that she brings her world into the painting. Like she’s saying, “Hey, this is how it's done—layer by layer, color by color.” It's like she's having a conversation with all the still life painters who came before her, shaking things up, and making it her own.