Petrificada Petrificante II 1978

Antoni Tapies made this print, Petrificada Petrificante II, using a muted palette that feels both delicate and strong. The layering of textures and marks is where the magic happens. Look at how Tapies combines the soft, almost fleshy shapes in the center with those scribbled marks. It's like he's building a world, one layer at a time. Those marks, like furious little knots, they remind me of Cy Twombly’s work, but with a more grounded, earthy feel. I love the way the texture around the edge almost feels like lace, contrasting with the rawness of the marks. It’s about the physical stuff, the ink, the paper, and the way Tapies coaxes them into something that feels both ancient and totally present. Artmaking is a conversation, an ongoing back-and-forth across time. Each artist adds their voice, their marks, their way of seeing. And like any good conversation, it’s the unexpected turns and contradictions that make it interesting.