South to Cochise 2019

"South to Cochise" is a painting by Mark Maggiori, where he lays down these striking, luminous colours. You can see that the paint is applied with a certain urgency, yet the effect is strangely calm. I’m drawn to the texture in the clouds. It feels like Maggiori has really worked the paint, layering it to create this intense depth and luminosity. It’s like he's sculpted the sky! The way the light seems to glow from within the clouds gives the painting a dreamlike quality, and it’s interesting to think about what that evokes. It reminds me a little of Albert Pinkham Ryder, in the way that the surface becomes almost more important than the subject. Both artists create worlds that feel both familiar and otherworldly, and they remind us that painting is always a conversation between the artist, the materials, and the world we're trying to capture. The conversation never ends!