Promise 2007

Bo Bartlett painted this image, “Promise” with oil, and I think it speaks to this idea of painting as a process of construction. The painting is mostly about an old man looking at a big globe. The surface of the painting is really smooth, kinda slick, which makes the image feel solid and real. The colours are muted, like an old photograph. It feels like the past and the future are crashing together, right? Look at the globe itself. The way Bartlett paints the grid feels very precise, but then he lets the shapes inside be loose and gestural. It’s like he's showing us how the world is both ordered and chaotic. This kind of play with representation reminds me of Gerhard Richter. Like Richter, Bartlett embraces the ambiguity of painting.