Elles 2002

Francois Arnal made *Elles* with paint, but when or where, I couldn’t say. I love how the piece feels like a quick thought, captured in a burst of marks. Look at the way the juicy red paint is dragged down in those vertical lines, kind of transparent in places. It makes me think of Jasper Johns’ use of encaustic - where you can see the process. Arnal doesn't hide the gesture, but revels in it. The way the colors overlap and bleed, it’s a very physical thing. Then there's that black figure on the left, like a blob, held in place by gravity. It’s like he's showing us that ambiguity is the point, and painting is a conversation that keeps changing.