Lavender Boy 2019

Salman Toor painted Lavender Boy in oil, maybe recently - I don’t know exactly when. It's got this loose, dreamy vibe, like a memory half-recalled, built up with layers of washes and scumbles. Check out the way he handles the figure, all soft edges and muted browns. It’s as if he’s painting a feeling more than a solid form. Then, look at the bedsheets - a tangle of brushstrokes creating depth and movement. See that little book, discarded on the bed, its pages practically glowing with a gentle, chartreuse hue, a detail that pops against the overall muted palette. It's a lovely little focal point. Toor's work reminds me of early Philip Guston, who also embraced a kind of vulnerable figuration. But Toor is doing his own thing, of course. Painting is like this, a conversation across time, a remix of ideas that never really settles down. It's all up for grabs, and always open to interpretation.