Sacre Coeur 2013

Patrick Pietropoli’s “Sacre Coeur”, roughly 50 by 50 centimeters, gives us a glimpse of Paris, probably made with oil on canvas. I love the brushwork, it’s all about process here! Look at how Pietropoli layers the paint, scraping and blurring the edges of buildings into each other. There's a real push and pull. The blues and grays create a moody atmosphere, but then you have these unexpected pops of red, like little jolts of energy. It's the red that gets me, especially in the scaffolding – it's almost like the painting is under construction, always becoming. It reminds me of Corot, but with a contemporary edge. Like Corot, Pietropoli isn’t trying to capture a perfect likeness. Instead, it’s a feeling, an impression of a city that’s constantly evolving. Art’s not about answers, it’s about the questions.