Ici 1992

Joan Mitchell made this untitled diptych with oil on canvas; she's really letting it all hang out here. It's not about trying to make something representational; it's more about the pure act of painting itself, like a dance with color. You can almost feel the physicality of the paint. It’s like she's wrestling with the colors, laying them down in these bold, confident strokes. Some areas are thick and juicy, others are thin and transparent, creating this beautiful, uneven surface. Look at the blues, how they almost drip down the canvas, contrasting with the more solid blocks of yellow. It's a conversation between control and spontaneity, the planned and unplanned. Mitchell reminds me a lot of de Kooning in that they share a similar energy and commitment to pure painting. And like de Kooning, her work shows how art can embrace ambiguity and multiple interpretations. There's no single answer here, just a lot of beautiful questions.