Jack Nicholson 1973

Charles Garabedian made this painting of Jack Nicholson with who knows what materials at some point in his long life. I'm really just guessing how the image came into being, its collage-like layering and construction, but I can almost feel the artist’s hand at play, piecing together the narrative from scraps of reality and imagination. I'm thinking about the bottles, the cash, the bowling pin, as this cocktail of everyday objects swirling around Nicholson's head. I imagine Garabedian must have felt a kinship with his subject, the two of them wrestling with the demons of fame and fortune, each in their own way. It's like all painting, really - artists riffing off each other, channeling something essential about being alive and awake. Garabedian's work reminds us that ambiguity is not a weakness but a strength. It's what allows a painting to breathe, to resonate, and to evolve in our minds long after we've turned away.