Embarkation 1988

Alvaro Lapa made this painting of black, white, and gray with small daubs of red. The way Lapa used paint to construct the composition is almost sculptural. It must have been built up, layer by layer, as he responded to what was already there, adding and subtracting, thinking and feeling his way through the process. I can see the push and pull, the searching and the finding. There’s an energy, especially in the top right, where the strokes break away as if they have a life of their own. The dark shape in the lower half grounds the painting, while the smattering of white specks hints at a hidden depth, a cosmic mystery. Thinking about artists like Lapa makes me consider how we’re all in this grand dialogue with art history. Each brushstroke is an echo, a nod to those who came before, filtered through the unique lens of personal experience.