El pez buey 1906

Alfred Kubin painted "El pez buey" with watercolor, gouache, and ink on paper. Kubin’s mark-making is like a fever dream. These materials let the artist pull the image out of thin air, more like exhaling than constructing. I’m drawn to the eye of this beast. It’s a bullseye of anxiety, a pupil-less void staring out from a fleshy socket. It feels like an invitation to look into something unknown, something dark and primordial. The browns and grays suggest an underwater world, or maybe the depths of the subconscious. The textures are built up in layers, creating a sense of depth and unease. The whole thing feels like a glimpse into the uncanny. Kubin was a contemporary of other visionary artists and writers, like Goya, Ensor and Kafka, and he shared their interest in exploring the darker sides of the human psyche. He reminds us that art doesn’t always have to be pretty, it can also be a way of confronting our fears and anxieties.