Iron Man 2015

Albrecht Behmel made this 150 x 100 cm picture of Iron Man with, it seems, paint and perhaps marker pen. It's a riot of colour, all these reds and yellows, greys and blues, that jostle for space within Iron Man's outline. I feel for Behmel trying to figure out how to contain all these mini figurative forms while retaining something of the character. What does Iron Man mean to Behmel, I wonder? What did he want to capture? The colours are bold and brash, yes, but so too are the outlines that define each cell within Iron Man's anatomy. It reminds me a little of Peter Saul, another artist unafraid to bring comic book imagery into painting. There’s something about this work, something raw and expressive, that takes the superhero out of the comic and into life. And isn't that what painting is all about, really?