Perceptismo No. 278 1950

Raul Lozza made this painting with a cool hand, using flat shapes against a slate gray ground. Orange, red, and tan colors hang in space, or maybe float like debris. I wonder what Lozza was thinking when he made this? Was he trying to escape expression? Was he reacting against the messiness of figuration, wanting something more calm and organized? Or maybe it was the opposite – perhaps in his heart he was a wild colorist who needed a rigid structure to contain his impulses. I can see him carefully cutting out those shapes, placing them just so, adjusting them a million times. I wonder if he labored over this, or if it came to him in a flash. I can relate to that struggle. Lozza's painting reminds me of the work of the Swiss Concrete artists, but also the early cut-outs of Matisse. It all makes me think about how artists are always talking to each other across time, inspiring each other to see the world in new ways. Painting offers us so many ways of seeing, thinking, and feeling.