Chinese Cliché 1976

Charles Garabedian made this painting, Chinese Cliché, with loose washes of color and freely drawn pencil lines. I imagine him building up these boxy, architectural shapes bit by bit, maybe improvising as he went. It’s interesting, right? The title implies a kind of cultural shorthand, but what does it mean? I feel like I'm walking into an arena of thought. I wonder if he ever felt stuck, and pushed through by adding one more brick, one more line. It’s like, what happens if I put this color next to that one? How do they vibrate? How does the surface come alive through color? It's a conversation with art history, with the old masters. Artists are always chatting with each other across time, inspiring each other’s gestures, mark-making, and even a sense of space. Garabedian embraces uncertainty, allowing for multiple readings rather than one fixed interpretation. I find that very freeing, don’t you?