What the bird... 2009

Alexander Roitburd made this oil painting, 'What the bird…', sometime before 2021, using the layering of brushstrokes to build up both the image and its dreamlike atmosphere. Roitburd’s painting has a kind of raw energy. I love the texture of the paint, how it’s built up, thick and juicy, especially on the bird's plumage. You can almost feel the artist working and reworking the surface, trying to capture the essence of this strange being. The way the colors blend and bleed into each other creates a sense of movement and fluidity, as if the painting is still in the process of becoming. Look at how he models the bird's wing with these strokes of pink and brown. It’s like he’s not just painting what he sees, but also what he feels. It makes me think of other artists like Francis Bacon, who also had this ability to capture the raw, messy, and sometimes grotesque aspects of the human condition. Art isn’t about answers, it's more about creating a space where we can ask questions, challenge assumptions, and embrace the beautiful, unsettling ambiguity of life.