The impersonal eye 1940

Conroy Maddox made this colourful painting, The Impersonal Eye, with layered blocks of colour and geometric, abstract shapes. The painting’s come into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I can imagine him in the studio, stepping back, scratching his head, then lunging forward to add another splash of colour, maybe a dash of orange or a teal curve. Look at the surface, the way he’s built up these strange shapes and colours. The paint looks thin, almost translucent in places, allowing the paper beneath to peek through. And that teal stroke! How it swoops down, adding a sense of movement and depth to the composition. It's like he's playing with visual language. Maddox was part of the surrealist movement, trying to express the unconscious, and he's totally in conversation with other painters like Miro and Tanguy, all exploring this territory. What does it mean? Well, that’s for you to decide.