Songs Of The Island of Sirens 2014

Michael Cheval made *Songs Of The Island of Sirens* with oil paint, but when exactly, I don't know. Just look at that surreal scene! You can see it coming into being stroke by stroke, building a world through intuition, right? I sympathize with Cheval as he figures it all out. You have this woman, standing in the water, playing a fish like a violin. A fish! And there’s a gramophone, sitting in the surf, ready to blast out the tunes. The paint looks thin, glazed almost, giving everything a luminous quality. It is a very particular gesture when the fish is used as a violin: it communicates a strange kind of whimsical absurdity. It's like he’s riffing on Magritte, but with a touch of old-world charm. Artists like Cheval keep the conversation going, reminding us that painting can be a portal to another way of seeing, another way of feeling. It's not just about what's on the canvas, but what it stirs up in you.