Cloud Painting 2014

Benoit Maire made this painting, Cloud Painting, with oil on canvas. I imagine the artist layering translucent washes of peach and rose, allowing the ghost of each layer to peek through. There's a real sense of searching, isn't there? Trial and error, intuition guiding the way. The clouds themselves, those big fluffy masses of white, seem to float on top of the painting like an afterthought. It's as though Maire's working towards an idea of the cloud, not necessarily a literal depiction. I sympathize with the artist. I wonder if, like me, Maire finds painting is a philosophical and playful process. It's so interesting the way he’s used that stroke of blue: a small, bright dab of color in an otherwise muted palette, like a tiny jewel catching the light. I see so much of other painters in this, too, as if Maire is in conversation with art history, transforming and reimagining it. Ultimately, painting invites ambiguity, doesn't it? It's never really finished; it is an ongoing process of seeing, thinking, and feeling.