Lush 2010

Aaron Nagel made Lush, which is an oil painting. The stark blacks and whites are almost architectural, creating a backdrop that makes the figure stand out. I am really drawn to the way Nagel handles the paint, particularly where the black seems to dissolve into the skin. You can see the brushstrokes, how the paint is applied in layers, almost like glazing. The surface isn’t perfectly smooth. There's a kind of vulnerability in that, a raw honesty about the process. Look at how the black paint seems to drip down the chest, it's a very deliberate mark that speaks to the artifice of the image, and the performative aspect of identity. It reminds me a little of John Currin, with that unsettling mix of hyper-realism and something else entirely. In the end, it's up to us to bring our own experiences and feelings to the table, to let the painting speak to us in its own way.