Composition 1999

This painting by Ion Alin Gheorghiu is a rich, strange world of forms. A dark ovoid shape dominates the top of the composition with clusters of orange dots beneath it. You get the sense that this was made with trial and error, of constant looking, assessing, and adjusting until the balance feels right, or, perhaps, wonderfully off. I imagine Gheorghiu building up the surface, laying down these curving lines like dark wooden planks, and how each gesture must have felt. Was he trying to describe an outer reality, or to conjure something up from within? See how the paint is applied thinly in some areas, thickly in others, creating a surface that breathes and lives. What a feeling, to trust the process and just let the painting take you where it wants to go! Painters are always looking, always riffing off one another. Gheorghiu’s world of forms has an affinity with Léger, who was also interested in biomorphic shapes. In looking at this painting, I'm reminded that art is a conversation across time, each artist adding their unique voice to the mix. And, that painting remains a form of embodied expression.