Untitled 2022

Alevtyna Kakhidze made this drawing, called "Dragon," with what looks like pen and maybe some watercolour. It's all about the feeling of the line, a bit like a kid's drawing but with a sophisticated edge. I love how the dragon, with its two heads, is breathing fire, or maybe it’s some other kind of… well, something is coming out of its mouth! And all these tiny figures are reacting—some are running, some are watching. The marks are raw, and that red is so immediate; it’s like Kakhidze grabbed whatever was at hand and just went for it. There’s a real physical urgency, like she had to get this down fast. It reminds me a little of Guston's late work, where he embraced this kind of deliberately clumsy, cartoonish style. But really, Kakhidze is doing her own thing, using simplicity to talk about complex stuff. It's a good reminder that art doesn't have to be polished to be powerful.