Table with nebulae 1993

Eugene Brands made this painting, Table with Nebulae, with paint, of course! Looking at the brushwork, you can really see the process of applying paint, of layering and moving it around. It's very direct, not fussed over.   What I like most is the thick, opaque paint on the table, all those whites and pinks that make it glow. It's as if the table is illuminated from within. Then there’s that mark in the top right corner, like a swirl of cloud. It’s pretty casual, but makes you wonder about the relationship between the interior and exterior. I mean, is that black all around the table just night? It puts me in mind of another painter, Forrest Bess, who, like Brands, was interested in inner and outer space. Both artists were reaching for something beyond the everyday. And that, for me, is what painting’s all about.