La zia Vania 1955

Enrico Baj made La zia Vania with paint and other materials to create a humanoid form. There's a gloopy quality here. It’s thick! You can see every little touch and smear. It’s like he’s building up a surface, adding layer after layer of paint, maybe even other stuff too, to give it this rough, almost sculptural feel. The colors are intense, like a kid let loose in a candy store, and the painting has the expression of someone staring wide-eyed at the world, which, well, can be pretty frightening. The face is haunting, it reminds me of Dubuffet's grotesque portraits. See that thin red line on the right side of the face? That single line brings a vulnerability to the subject, contrasting with the wild, expressive colors of the painting. I think of outsider art, maybe someone like Madge Gill, and the way she built up repetitive forms. There's a sense of urgency in the mark-making, like Baj is trying to get something out, to work through some kind of emotion or idea, that goes beyond the obvious. It's more of a feeling.