Ensemble 2018

Charles Gibbons’s “Ensemble” is all about vibrant lines, playful colors, and joyful shapes. I imagine Gibbons starting with one color, maybe that juicy purple, and then intuitively responding with another—the gray, the red, the yellow. It's like a dance. The lines are confident, with this clean, smooth surface that gives them energy. He is thinking about Matisse, and Miro, I’m sure, but he's got his own fresh take. I can imagine him, brush in hand, stepping back, considering, and then diving back in to make adjustments. I'm sure that each color and shape probably sparked new ideas, leading him further into the painting. It's almost like these forms are characters that don't repeat, so he gets to create his own language of mark making. Like a visual conversation between an artist and their materials. And it's ongoing. He is not trying to trick you or tell you what to think. These ideas of art are being tossed around through time. It's all one big painting in my mind.