Foll 1973

Antoni Tapies made "Foll" with paint and other media. The red slashes cut across the canvas with an almost violent energy. It's like watching a dance, a very aggressive tango, maybe! Look at how the paint splatters. It makes me think of a crime scene, but also, the joy of just letting loose with a brush. The black lines add to the chaos, like graffiti scrawled over a wall. There's a raw, visceral quality to the work; you can almost feel the artist's hand moving, splattering, and scraping. The surface has so much texture, almost like a relief. Tapies reminds me of Robert Rauschenberg, both unafraid to get their hands dirty and mess with the boundaries of painting. It's this embrace of chance and imperfection that makes "Foll" so compelling.