The conversation 2019

Jarik Jongman made "The Conversation", and right away I feel I can taste the oil paint—a visceral and immediate response. Looking at the dominant browns and greens, the painting feels like it came into being slowly, with much shifting and scraping. I can imagine the artist, Jongman, standing before the canvas, brush in hand, maybe feeling a bit lost. The texture looks thick, worked and reworked, almost sculptural in places. There’s this gorgeous, almost violent gesture in the way the figures are rendered with a real sense of urgency. What were they thinking? There’s a sense of dialogue going on here, not just between the figures, but with artists who have explored similar themes of memory, loss, and the human condition. Think of artists like Richter or Auerbach. Painting is a conversation, and Jongman is speaking his truth, adding his voice to the chorus.