Incamminati 2003

Nelson Shanks made "Incamminati," and right away I notice the interplay between classical and contemporary. There's the figure herself, the way she echoes a Greek goddess, and the "NOW!" sign posted on the wall. I wonder what it was like for Shanks, balancing this classical technique with the urge to shout "NOW!" I can imagine him moving back and forth, brushes in hand, thinking through each layer, each brushstroke. You can almost feel the conversation he was having with the history of art. Look at how the colors aren’t shouting, but they sing, almost humming off the canvas. The brushwork is smooth, carefully applied, but the "NOW!" feels like a little rebellion. Shanks seems to have been saying, "I'm part of this tradition, but I'm also making it my own, right here, right now." And that's the thing about painting: we learn from each other, we argue with each other, and we keep the conversation going.