Untitled Possibly 1962

Zao Wou-Ki made this painting, we're not sure exactly when, with a riot of colour, all oranges and blacks, that feels both volcanic and kind of cosmic. I love how the paint isn't trying to hide anything; you can almost feel the brushstrokes. It's all about the doing, the layering of thin washes that let the light bounce around, then these decisive, dark marks that cut through the haze. Look at the way the dark paint clusters near the center – it’s like a storm gathering, or maybe a dense thicket of branches. The whole thing reminds me a bit of Turner, that sense of trying to capture something massive and unknowable in just a few gestures. But Zao Wou-Ki brings his own sensibility, his own way of letting the painting breathe. It’s not about answers, but about embracing the beautiful mess of it all.