Lavender Boy 2019

Salman Toor made this intimate painting, Lavender Boy, with oil on canvas, and it feels so close, like a secret we’re being let in on. Look how the artist has captured the light in this bedroom scene with its muted colors of grey, white and amber. You can almost feel the warmth of the bedside lamp illuminating the sleeping figure, as if painted from life, right there, in situ. I bet it took a lot of looking, adjusting, scraping back, and starting again. What was Toor thinking as he built up these layers of paint? I imagine him shifting between observation and invention, wanting to capture the essence of a tender moment. I’m especially drawn to that extended arm and hand thrown back. You know that feeling when you wake up and your arm is stretched out above your head? This simple gesture communicates so much about vulnerability and trust. Toor has developed a distinctive style that nods to the history of painting whilst bringing a contemporary and queer sensibility to figurative art. Artists are always in conversation with each other.