View of the City of Havana 1970

René Portocarrero's "View of the City of Havana" feels like it was made with joy, like the city itself is singing. Just imagine the brush dancing across the surface, leaving traces of blues, reds, yellows, and whites, colliding and merging to create something new. It makes me think about how a city isn’t just buildings but also memories, moments, and fleeting impressions. There’s a rhythm to the lines – look at how the black ink outlines create a skeleton for the city, and then the bold daubs of color fill it in, like memories flooding back. I can feel the artist wanting to put everything in, all at once, the way a child might draw their dream house. You can see Portocarrero’s conversation with other painters, that ongoing exchange of ideas across time. It’s like he’s saying, "I see you, I hear you, and now I'm going to add my own voice to the chorus." Painting is an embodied expression, embracing ambiguity, and allowing multiple interpretations. It's not just about what we see but what we feel, what we imagine, and what we bring to it ourselves.