Composition 1999

Ion Alin Gheorghiu made this painting, called "Composition," without dating it, working with a real mix of tones and textures. You can see how the work has been built up layer by layer, the material aspect is very present. I love the way Gheorghiu combines these flat areas of color, like in the earthy browns and greens at the bottom. I wonder if he was using house paint as well as artist supplies, there is something very honest in the application of the paint, and yet it is also very knowing, in terms of composition. Look at how the brushstrokes around the dark oval shape at the top feel kind of clumsy but deliberate, how that area of loose work plays against the carefully built up mosaic effect of the band of yellow dots. It reminds me a little of the Pattern and Decoration movement or maybe even Philip Guston, so don’t be fooled into thinking that so-called ‘outsider’ art exists in a vacuum!