Crew 2017

David Michael Hinnebusch made this painting, "Crew," and it’s a real explosion of color and energy. The way he attacks the surface reminds me that making art is a conversation, a back-and-forth between intention and accident. Look at the thick, juicy strokes of yellow and red, battling it out at the top, then crashing into those blues and purples down below. It's like the whole thing is about to slide off the canvas. I love how Hinnebusch isn’t afraid to let the paint be itself, messy and raw. See those figures clustered together at the bottom? They’re roughly drawn, almost like cartoons, but they have this intense, emotional presence. That’s where the work gets its power. Hinnebusch makes me think of artists like Francis Picabia, who weren’t afraid to mix it up, to be a little bit all over the place, embracing doubt and contradiction rather than trying to tie everything up in a neat little bow.