Oath in the Hall for the Ball Game 2010

Alexander Roitburd made this artwork in oil, and wow, the colours! There’s a real intensity in how he uses them. The painting has these hooded figures and these tubular shapes that look like sausages crossed in the sky. It’s heavy, dark, mysterious. I wonder what it was like for Roitburd to mix these colours and layer them so thickly? How did he decide where to put each brushstroke? It’s so physical, so immediate, right? Look at the weight of the figures and the glow around the tubes. It feels like he’s digging into something deep, something ritualistic, maybe even a little bit…off. The bright neon noodles at the bottom seem to come from somewhere else entirely. It reminds me of other artists who are also exploring the intersection of the real and unreal, the past and the present. It’s all part of this ongoing conversation that painters have, you know? Trying to figure things out, one brushstroke at a time.