Long Island (Straw) 2006

Arsen Savadov has given us this beach scene that has a kind of feverish intensity. I'm imagining Arsen layering the paint, scraping it back, then adding more, arriving at this moment by way of intuition. The figures wading through the blue-green water are surrounded by colorful cocktail umbrellas, as though this is some kind of half-remembered dream. I see a kinship here with artists like David Salle, who also juxtaposes surreal elements with a touch of narrative. There's something haunting about the painting's materiality, in the way the strokes of paint suggest a fleeting vision, or an uncanny experience. Look how the blues pull at the edges of the forms and how the snakes wrapped around poles add a sense of unease! The gesture becomes a way of communicating a feeling, a mood, a vibe. Ultimately, painting is an ongoing conversation. It's not about answers, but about keeping the dialogue alive and engaging with ambiguity and uncertainty.