Useless Knowledge 2001

Mark Kostabi made this painting called Useless Knowledge, and what strikes me is the graphic punch of the colours and the way he’s almost diagramming a feeling rather than illustrating a scene. Look at the yellow of the figure, how it pops against the blues and blacks, but also feels flattened. It's like he’s not trying to create depth, but a kind of symbolic space. The paint is applied so smoothly, it's almost like it’s been printed rather than painted. This flatness makes the image read really quickly, but the longer you look, the more the composition rattles around. The sharp angles and bold colours push and pull against each other. The books on the shelf, the vertical stripes in the background, all seem to be vibrating. This feels very postmodern, like a kind of deconstructed still life. It reminds me a bit of David Salle, this idea of using art history as a kind of readymade, mixing styles and references with a knowing wink. Art isn't about answers, it's about asking questions and keeping the conversation going.