Figura 1983

Antonio Palolo made this painting, Figura, and it's a trip into seeing how a portrait can be built from feeling. The surface is alive with these quick, diagonal strokes, mostly yellow, that somehow make up a figure. It's like he's trying to catch the energy of a person rather than just copying what they look like. You can almost feel the movement and the speed of his hand as he’s laying down the paint. Check out how the yellow figure almost flickers against the darker blues and reds behind it. There’s this cool tension, like the figure is both there and not there at the same time. That one white stroke right next to the figure makes me think of Brice Marden, how a single line can hold so much space and emotion. It is a reminder that art is not about answers but about keeping the conversation going.