Rug 1976

Philip Guston made this painting, "Rug," with oil on canvas and I can imagine him, brush in hand, circling around the canvas, lost in thought. The painting pulses with a fleshy, almost cartoonish energy. Those bulbous forms, like the 'rug' itself and the mysterious shapes piled upon it, feel both familiar and strange. Are they figures, objects, or something in between? The red and pink palette gives everything a kind of raw, exposed feeling, like looking beneath the surface. I think Guston was grappling with some serious stuff here. The act of painting itself becomes a kind of inquiry, a way of trying to make sense of a world that often feels chaotic and absurd. The thick, almost clumsy application of paint, becomes very expressive, communicating feeling. It's like he's inviting us to join him in the process, to embrace the messiness and uncertainty of it all. I see echoes of de Kooning in the gestural marks, and even hints of Guston's earlier abstract work. We are all in conversation with each other.