Sky (August) 1986

Constantin Flondor made this sky, sometime in August, probably with oils on a small board. Look how the paint's been dragged thinly across the surface, letting the grain of the board peek through. It's all about the process, you know? Not trying to trick you into thinking it's a real sky, but showing you how paint can become a sky. I'm drawn to the upper left corner, to those small clouds. They look like rough brushstrokes, quickly applied, but somehow they capture the fleeting quality of clouds, always moving, always changing. The blue feels both airy and heavy, like the sky on a hot summer day, when the air shimmers with heat. There is something of Gerhard Richter in it, in the way the material qualities of the paint are allowed to be apparent. It’s not a perfect sky, but it’s real in its own way. And isn't that what art's all about, anyway?