Kowdoolie 1990

Eric Fischl made ‘Kowdoolie’ with oil on canvas, and you can see how the brushstrokes build up a world of figures, a palette of dark shadows set against an eerie orange glow. You get the feeling that this scene emerged as Fischl worked with the paint, a real sense of discovery in the process. Looking closely, the textures of the piece are amazing. The faces especially are built up from so many layers, it's hard to believe this is paint and not flesh. The way the figures merge with the background, and the sketchy, unfinished quality of some areas, gives it a dreamlike feel, like a memory or a vision. The physicality of the paint, the way it's been dragged and layered, is what makes this piece so haunting. For me, Fischl is always in dialogue with artists like Manet, reinterpreting figurative painting with a modern eye, inviting us to see the world anew. Art isn't about answers, it's about opening up spaces for questions.