De-Formation #1 2016

Rodrigo Franzao made this, 'De-Formation #1', and it’s like he’s playing with geometry but making it all wobbly and human. That big, blurry circle must’ve been a trip to make, not quite a perfect form and like it's got a bit of a hangover. Then you have the drippy blue, kind of oozing down. It makes me think about gravity, about how paint does what it wants, and you have to let it. Those thin red lines and stray hairs – are they even paint? – give it a sense of being unfinished, like a sketch that's trying to be a painting. Maybe Franzao was thinking about the way things fall apart, the beauty in the imperfect. It reminds me a bit of Twombly's scribbles, but with a cooler, more detached vibe. Like art history, but remixed for today. It’s like Franzao's saying, “Yeah, I know the rules, but I’m gonna bend them a little.”