The Theater Room 2018

Joshua Flint made this painting, The Theater Room, with a loose, gestural approach, layering washes of muted colors. It’s all about the process. The painting has a dreamlike quality with figures emerging from a blurred background. Look how the brushstrokes are visible, not trying to hide anything. The paint is thin in places, thick in others, creating a textured surface that adds to the sense of movement. The contrast between the cool blues and greens of the water and the formal figures in the upper right adds tension, like a memory flickering in and out of focus. The way Flint handles paint reminds me a bit of Gerhard Richter, especially in his blurred photo paintings. Both artists are interested in the interplay between representation and abstraction, and how we perceive images. But Flint brings something new, a sense of nostalgia and mystery, inviting us to question what we see and feel.