Untitled 1980

This untitled painting was made by Manoucher Yektai, and what strikes me most is the creamy, almost edible, quality of the paint itself, like thick frosting applied with a palette knife. It's a process that invites touch, a kind of haptic seeing where you almost feel the artist's hand moving across the canvas. The materiality here is everything. Look at how the light catches the peaks of the impasto in the flowers, or the way the sky is built up with layers of blues and greens. It's not just about representing a scene, but about the sheer physicality of paint. Notice that single, bold stroke of white on the figure's chest. It’s like a secret, a highlight that both reveals and conceals, adding to the sense of intimacy and immediacy. Yektai's work reminds me a bit of Joan Mitchell, with that same emphasis on gesture and the emotional power of color. It's all about embracing ambiguity, allowing the paint to speak its own language.