Plain 2005

Arsen Savadov's painting is a scene of moonlight suffused with warm yellows and cool blues. Imagine him, brush in hand, coaxing this eerie landscape into being, a place where earth and sky seem to meld into one. I can feel the artist's hand in the swirls of paint that build the rocky terrain and the ghostly form of the downed plane. The paint is neither too thick, nor too thin, but just right, allowing for the light to play across the surface, giving it that uncanny glow. It's a study in contrasts - the cool detachment of the mechanical wreckage against the warmth of the landscape. I wonder if Savadov was thinking about memory and loss. This reminds me of other artists like Gerhard Richter, who also explored the intersection of painting and photography. Artists are always riffing off each other, building on each other's ideas, but making something entirely new, something that only they can make. And that’s the beautiful thing about art.