Merger 1987

Mark Kostabi made this striking painting, Merger, with paint, seemingly without any date in mind. See how Kostabi lays down those smooth, almost airbrushed colors? It’s like watching a sunset blend from fiery reds to mellow yellows. You can almost feel the paint being pushed around, those gradients made with deliberate, unhurried gestures. Look at how the bodies are defined with that simple red outline. It’s a touch that’s both economical and expressive, giving form without fuss, a bit like Léger. The way the surface is so slick and seamless, it almost hides the hand, doesn’t it? But then, you notice the dark halo around the figures. It’s a reminder of the physical act of painting, a shadow of the artist’s presence. You can see the same technique in his other works, that anonymous, everyman figure, like an ongoing series. It makes you wonder, what does it all mean? But maybe the point is not to know, but to feel and to keep looking.