Fiancée électrique 1993

This is Eduardo Arroyo’s ‘Fiancée électrique’, a print, and you can really see that making prints is a process. There's a dialogue with the materials at every stage. Here, the black ink feels almost velvety, setting off the white outline of the figure like a jolt. And those yellow hands – aren't they just the perfect pop of colour, like little bursts of electricity? It’s like something playful is zapping this austere figure. I love the way Arroyo doesn't try to hide the process, you can see the layers, the textures, it’s right there on the surface. Arroyo reminds me of Picabia who also worked with this kind of flattened figuration, but with a little more humour, or maybe it’s just a different kind of humor. Anyway, what I like about this print is that it’s not trying to be something it isn't. It just sort of *is*, with all its quirks and imperfections, like art is an ongoing conversation between artists. It’s a way of seeing, not just a thing to be seen.