Untitled 1967

Vilen Barsky made this untitled artwork with black paint, probably ink, poured and manipulated on paper. I love to look at the way the paint is handled, it shows the gesture of the artist. See how the outer contour bleeds and drips, almost as if the artist was trying to contain something, or maybe let it escape? Inside, the darker marks swim and coagulate, forming abstract shapes with a strange kind of logic. I'm thinking about what Barsky might have been thinking when he made this? Maybe he was exploring the subconscious, letting the ink guide him into unknown territory. It's got that automatic-writing vibe, like the Surrealists were getting at. It reminds me a bit of Michaux, in that sense. Painting is a conversation, you know? We all build on what came before, inspiring each other across time. And that's why, even without a title, this piece speaks to something universal, something beyond words.