Abduction A 1961

Curator: "Abduction A," painted in 1961, is a dynamic acrylic piece by Robert Goodnough that invites interpretation through its swirling, semi-figurative forms. What impressions does it give you at first sight? Editor: Raw, urgent... like a half-remembered dream of bodies in motion. I can feel the tension, but I’m not entirely sure *what* is going on. There's a lightness to the color palette but it's a bit chaotic isn't it? Curator: The title definitely points towards an element of struggle, but what I find compelling is how Goodnough manages to weave figuration into near-abstraction. You can almost discern figures pulling, reaching. There's a history painting struggling to emerge. Editor: Yes! It is interesting isn't it. A battle painting abstracted through time! It feels almost performative; these outlined figures almost dissolve back into the canvas. But the figures – especially that central one with outstretched arms, and the angular line work... it's all really quite affecting. Curator: The monochrome palette really enhances this sense of half-formed memory and universality too. Abduction is such a primal theme that plays out across cultural memory isn't it? The bold brushwork connects it to Action Painting and Abstract Expressionism, but the recognizable human forms give it such depth. Editor: Absolutely, that's true. It is quite disorienting. There's an incredible energy caught here— like seeing bodies, not being entirely *sure* of them and of their struggle. The viewer then is brought into the process of deciding for themselves whether or not it truly *is* a moment of struggle. It's sort of delicious in that way! Curator: The interplay of raw emotion and aesthetic distance, is where I think, Goodnough really succeeds. He hints at a narrative without pinning it down, provoking rather than prescribing meaning. It certainly offers fertile ground for psychological and art-historical exploration, I think! Editor: It truly does. It invites the viewer into this liminal state where figures become stories, become colors and become so many ideas at once. Beautiful.