Flash 2001

Curator: Standing before us is Alexander Bogen's "Flash," an oil painting created in 2001. What’s your initial feeling as you gaze upon it? Editor: Utterly arresting. It's all swirling dark energy and then *bam*, this shocking, almost violent streak of red. Like a supernova exploding in my brain. Is it supposed to feel...unsettling? Curator: Bogen often explores matter-painting, where the physicality of the paint itself becomes the subject. I feel there’s an interplay here. Red is often affiliated with anger, danger, and also strong emotions. Given how darkness predominates here, could it be representing suppressed power or, perhaps, contained chaos, waiting to erupt? Editor: That's a fascinating reading. I was instantly drawn to the obvious symbolic power of the flash of light amidst that deep black. But also the fact that is blurred... It immediately brings to mind stories where unexpected insights can arrive, like blinding moments. Perhaps the 'blur' indicates a transition, from one state of knowing to another. Curator: It does evoke that sudden realization, that instant clarity – almost like an epiphany bursting forth. He clearly toys with blurring to highlight a sudden motion, or transformation. And the galactic-esque deep backdrop…I feel hints at the vastness of where such experiences emerge, like lightning splitting a stormy night. It has the appeal of a Rothko canvas mixed with the urgent drama of a Goya. Editor: Right. It certainly is less an image, more a sensory experience, and I'm completely hypnotized by the texture! What Bogen is creating here isn’t just some pretty abstraction, this 'matter painting' style evokes a certain… raw, guttural energy that taps into core human emotional responses: primal, vital, violent and raw. Curator: I agree completely. The stark contrast between light and darkness offers a moment, literally, where the viewer stands between chaos and comprehension, a place where things are beginning and endings at once. I wonder what personal storms fueled Bogen’s brush when this work appeared! Editor: Maybe we'll never know. Yet art gives shape and form to what cannot otherwise be seen or heard.