The Sacrifice 1993

Alexander Bogen made this painting called *The Sacrifice* with oils, and probably with a heavy heart. The greens, yellows and blues feel oppressive, like a forest closing in. When I look at this, I think about process and what it must have been like to put down each of those strokes. What was Bogen thinking as he worked? Was he trying to capture a specific feeling, or did the painting evolve organically as he went along? I see heavy strokes of dark paint layered on top of each other, then a bright yellow figure pulled out from the darkness with a dry brush. It reminds me a bit of Goya, but with its own raw, expressionistic energy. That blood-red mark at the bottom really gets me. I keep coming back to that small area, like a key to the whole composition. Artists work in conversation with each other across time. Painting is about opening up possibilities for feeling and thought, not pinning things down.