Top Floor 1965

Benny Andrews made this painting, called 'Top Floor,' using oil paint. The paint seems applied very directly. Not much blending, and no fussiness - you can really see the marks he made. The approach to painting here is so interesting because it reveals the working process; the hand is there. Check out the area just behind the figure, the flecked wallpaper is a really good example of the way that the texture of the paint stands out. It has a broken, almost mosaic feel. The figure is hunched over, head in hands, which adds to the sense of a dark mood, and all these surface details seem to add to the feeling of unease and claustrophobia. The green of the rug and curtains is a kind of sickly colour, not quite right. I am reminded of some of Philip Guston's later paintings - both artists use a similar palette. But ultimately this is an image about emotional pain and the attempt to find meaning in an interior world, and that is something very personal.