Estados Complementarios #014 2005

This large painting by Pablo Rey, *Estados Complementarios #014*, is an adventure in colour, using a bright red ground with lively, playful marks made with what looks like acrylic. Rey embraces the joy of putting paint to canvas, doesn’t he? The surface fizzes with energy. Look how the ochre and brown lines weave around and through floating shapes, it’s as if they are chasing each other in and out of the picture plane. The shapes aren’t defined, and they aren’t trying to be anything other than colour. It’s the kind of painting that embraces ambiguity. I’m thinking of someone like Elizabeth Murray, who also made paintings that felt like joyful puzzles. It's like Rey's saying, "Hey, art is a conversation, let's keep it open, let's keep it fun!"