Relativity 2019

Sami Gattoufi made this painting, Relativity, with monochrome tones of oil on canvas. There’s a definite process here, I think, with layers of paint building up a muted, shadowy atmosphere. Looking closely, the paint is applied with varied strokes—some areas are blended smoothly, like the light falling on the back wall, and others are more visible. The figure in the bowler hat is painted in deep blacks and greys, but these colors are not uniform. The hat is a very dense black, but the light is caught on the shoulder in a lighter tone, and I wonder, how many shades of grey can one artist find! The textured brushwork around the figure almost makes it seem to be dissolving into the surrounding space. It reminds me a little of Gerhard Richter’s blurred photographs-turned-paintings. Both artists seem to embrace ambiguity, inviting us to question what we see and how we perceive it.