In the unbearable heat of a summer afternoon 2020

Alfred Freddy Krupa made this painting, In the unbearable heat of a summer afternoon, with what looks like oil on canvas. The colors are intense, like the title suggests, a real visual heat. You can see the brushstrokes moving every which way, not really blended, so you get this sense of the paint being pushed around, like the artist was in a hurry. Looking closer, the way those birds are painted, they're not just sitting there, they're kind of exploding into the space. They are more like gestures than perfect representations of birds. And those rays of light, cutting through the dark, heavy sky, feel like some kind of intervention or maybe like he is searching. This reminds me a little bit of Albert Pinkham Ryder, with the way the paint is layered and the kind of moody, dreamlike feeling you get. But Krupa is doing his own thing. He's not afraid to leave things unresolved, which is brave. Art isn't about having all the answers, is it? It's more about asking the questions.