Untitled, (Blooming, A Scattering of Blossoms & Other Things) 2007

Cy Twombly made this painting, with who knows what, when, but there’s a feeling of real time passing in the image, with the paint recording the present as it’s being made. You can see it especially in the way the red paint blooms, or rather splats, and then streaks downwards. The paint isn’t trying to trick you into believing it’s anything other than paint, but it does evoke things like, you know, flowers, or blood, or loss. I love how he lets the paint drip. I mean, it drips a lot! It’s almost comical, but then it feels, somehow, really sad. Twombly makes me think of Joan Mitchell, another artist who loves to push paint around. But Twombly has a classical, historical feeling to him, while also being so casual. He just lets it all hang out! He reminds us that art doesn’t have to be so serious. It can be a space for play, for experimentation, and for just letting things happen.