Xeon Jungle 2018

Beeple's Xeon Jungle is probably made with some kind of software, maybe even AI, who knows, but it feels like painting to me! There is this collision of synthetic neon and unruly nature, and how Beeple allows these planes of bright color to cut through the dark and dense foliage, really creates a dynamic push and pull. It reminds me of how you can let a painting be, and the strange new worlds that come out of it. It doesn't have to make sense right away. Look at how the angular geometry of these pale pink stripes is softened by the gradient into a light cyan, and how these colors are picked up and echoed in the purple and blue foliage. It's really interesting, how a few very deliberate and decisive shapes and color relationships can pull a whole image together. I think Beeple and someone like Philip Guston are approaching a similar thing from different ends of the spectrum, they are both interested in the process of seeing and how simple, deliberate marks can create something that is bigger than the sum of its parts.