Plate Tectonics 2018

Joshua Flint made "Plate Tectonics," a painting that’s all about the power of suggestion, with a limited palette and a focus on texture to evoke an atmosphere, a mood. I imagine the canvas starting with washes of grey and charcoal, maybe even layered with a palette knife, building a sense of depth and unease. Look at the way those chairs emerge from the gloom. They seem almost like ghosts. It’s like Flint is thinking about memory, absence, maybe even the end of something. The way he’s handled the paint, it's not about precision, but about feeling – that scrape of the brush, the way the colors bleed into each other. What was he thinking when he left that drag mark, or the subtle brushstroke? I wonder if he was thinking of Richter, maybe? He shares the interest in haunting figuration. It's like these painters are all in conversation, working through something together. This painting reminds us that art isn’t about answers, but about questions, possibilities.