The Barber and the Berber (Defiguration) 1962

Asger Jorn made 'The Barber and the Berber (Defiguration)' using paint, probably oil. There's a figure on the left that looks like it's from a photograph, and then there's another face next to it, which is pure painting. I can imagine Jorn painting over an old picture he had, maybe that he found at a flea market. It is like the painting is alive, squirming with its own energy and purpose. I love to think about how the artist’s hand moves when they are creating something. Look at the way he's applied broad strokes, the way the paint is both thick and thin, how he is wiping it away and then piling it on. The green face has a crude, almost violent presence. It has this kind of primal energy, like something raw and untamed. And that gesture, the one where he obliterates the photograph with big gestural marks, reminds me of de Kooning. I mean, all artists are in conversation, right? They’re always riffing off each other, responding to each other's work. It's not about fixed meanings, it’s about keeping the conversation going.