The Socks Seller 1973

Louay Kayyali made The Socks Seller with some kind of paint on what looks like a sheet of board. The mark making here is really interesting – it feels delicate but the overall impact is quite stark and graphic. Look at how the green paint is applied so thinly, you can still see the texture of the board underneath. It gives the impression of a kind of muted colour field and it makes me think about texture as a kind of drawing. Notice also how the figure holds a pair of socks in one hand and a stack of folded socks in the other. The socks are brown. I can see the influence of artists like Balthus here; Kayyali embraces ambiguity over easy answers. There's a sense of something withheld, maybe something sad. And that’s what keeps me looking.