Amazon Tribe of Taboo Maidens 1968

This thrilling tableau, “Amazon Tribe of Taboo Maidens,” seems like it was splashed into being by Mort Künstler. I wonder what kind of brush he used on this? Maybe a tiny one for the figures, but a big mop for all that splashing, foamy, surging water. You can almost feel the artist’s hand pushing and pulling the paint to conjure that churning chaos. I bet he was really in the zone. Were his palms sweating while he worked? The narrative is intense, right? Everyone is in such danger. I think the artist is in the zone too, but the painting seems to be exploring the tension between fear and action, agency and circumstance. It’s interesting to think about how painters have always borrowed ideas, remixing them across centuries. This artist’s style reminds me of all kinds of pulp illustration, like a weird dream with different people in it. And that’s the wonderful thing about art: it's all one big conversation that never ends.