Master of the Red Meat 1997

Thornton Dial made this piece, Master of the Red Meat, from paint, fabric, and found objects. It's all about process, you know? A constant back-and-forth between intention and accident. Dial's work is so physical. Look at the way he layers and manipulates the fabric, and how the paint seems to be both covering and revealing what's underneath. I love the gloppy, almost violent application of the red paint. The color isn’t just red, it’s angry, it’s visceral. There’s an urgency in every stroke, every gesture. See how the raw edges of the fabric are exposed, kind of like a wound? It makes you think about the history embedded in these materials, the lives they've touched. Dial reminds me of someone like Kurt Schwitters, who transformed trash into poetic assemblages. Art is a conversation, an ongoing dialogue across time and space, and Dial is right in the middle of it, speaking in a language all his own.