Untitled 1976

This untitled painting was made by Jules Perahim, we’re not sure when. The figures are built up of a limited palette of earthy tones, black and ochre, with some jolts of brighter colour. The making looks like a process of adjustment and refinement, like Perahim was feeling his way through the composition. The surface has a kind of waxy, luminous quality. The paint application is thin, but dense, without much sense of brushwork. The light models the figures, giving them a soft glow. Notice the striped pattern in the centre of the piece, the colours are quite acidic and jarring in contrast to the skin tones and more muted colours in the rest of the painting. It reminds me a little of Picabia, who was also exploring the terrain between figuration and abstraction. Ultimately it’s the ambiguities of this work that make it so powerful. It’s not quite figurative, but it’s not quite abstract either. This painting isn't trying to tell you what to think. It's an invitation to explore an imaginary space and to linger in the realm of possibility.