Reflection 1999

Alexander Bogen made this painting, Reflection, probably in oil, by the looks of it, with a somber but spirited approach to mark making. You can see it as a back and forth, an interaction, between the artist and the oil paint. There’s a moody, almost gothic feel to the colour palette, dominated by these deep blues and greens, but then those tiny touches of red, like embers, give the work a real spark. I’m drawn to the way the paint is layered; thin in places, almost transparent, and then thicker, more opaque, creating a real sense of depth. Check out the horizontal band running across the middle – it’s almost like a horizon line, but then the ‘reflection’ below is just as murky as the sky above. Bogen seems to know his way around Rothko - that hovering dark mass. The painting holds that tension between seeing and feeling, knowing and not knowing. Like all good paintings, it’s more a question than an answer.