Village In The Moon 1985

Ronnie Landfield made this painting, Village In The Moon, with what looks like big brushes and maybe watered-down acrylic or gouache. The colours are laid down in these juicy, transparent strokes, like he's building up the landscape with pure pigment. It's all about the gesture. I love the way the strokes build up this abstract landscape. Look at that horizontal band of red, how it bleeds into the blue beneath it. Or the way he's dragged the brush, leaving these little gaps, like glimpses of what's underneath. It's so simple and direct, yet there's a real sense of depth and atmosphere. The painting is a process of laying colour upon colour. It reminds me a bit of Milton Avery, that same love of colour and simplified forms, but Landfield's got this raw, almost punk energy that's all his own. He shows us that painting doesn't have to be about perfection, it can be about the sheer joy of making marks and seeing what happens.