Olšany 1931

Jindrich Styrsky made this painting, Olšany, and it looks like he was really exploring what happens when you let forms emerge, almost like a dream. He’s got these blurry blocks of color, greens and blues, kind of washed out like a memory. Then bam! This dark, brooding shape hovers above, with a slash of aggressive red and a shadow that grounds it but also makes it feel totally untethered. It’s like the painting is a stage and these shapes are actors who don't know the script. The texture is what gets me, though. It's not about hiding the brushstrokes, it's all right there, visible and raw. The layering of color, like thin curtains, allows the painting to build on itself. I'm reminded of Yves Tanguy's biomorphic forms or maybe even some of those early Surrealist experiments with automatism. Ultimately it feels fresh because it embraces the not-knowing.