Sequins 2011

Nelson Shanks made this painting, Sequins, with oil on canvas. Shanks had a way of using paint that makes you think about the process itself, like, how does all that detail emerge from a bunch of brushstrokes? Looking at the blue shirt, you can see how the sequins have been built up with layers of paint, little dabs and strokes that catch the light differently. I think it’s interesting how he uses these small marks to give the fabric a shimmering quality, like light reflecting off something real, but in a way that is very obviously paint. The slightly abject pose reminds me of Lucian Freud, but the classical technique is more like Ingres. It's almost like Shanks wants to keep all options open, and maybe that's what painting is all about, after all.