Nexx Central Revisited 1996

Dan Christensen’s *Nexx Central Revisited* is a painting that sings with energy. Three vibrant circles, colored purple, yellow and red, float amidst gestural brushstrokes of white against a blue background. I can imagine Christensen in his studio, the smell of paint thick in the air. He probably started with a light blue canvas and then made a series of broad, sweeping gestures with a heavily loaded brush of white paint. The white paint application feels immediate, like a response to something seen or felt. A lot like the way Joan Mitchell painted, thinking about fields and skies. The circles are like these portals or suns. How did he make them? I can see how he softly blended the edges. I wonder what he was listening to while he was making them? Paintings like this make me think of the ongoing conversation between artists across time. Each stroke is a response to a question posed by another, a continuation of a dialogue that spans generations. Paintings are like feelings, elusive, embodied, and ultimately, open to interpretation.