Face 1965

This is Rene Portocarrero's 'Face,' and it's like a little puzzle made with paint. The shapes are all built from dabs of blue, gold, and gray - look how he lets the colors bump up against each other, not caring if they mix. That's how you know it's about the joy of making. Up close, you can see the way Portocarrero loaded the paint onto his brush. It’s thick in some spots, almost crusty, and really thin in others, so you get a sense of the hand, of the artist pushing and pulling. The gold shimmers, right? It reminds me of Klimt, that interest in ornamentation. It's not just a face, it’s a decorative object. There’s a lot of art that does this, that takes what we know and turns it into something new and a little bit weird. I guess that's why I love it so much!