Day Dreaming 2018

Martine Johanna made this painting, Day Dreaming, sometime in the 20th century, using who knows what, probably paint! The colors are so strange and beautiful; like, who would think to put that particular green with that shade of yellow? But it works, right? The surface has a kind of dreamy, hazy quality. You can see how the colors blend together, especially in the face. It is as if the artist layered the paint and then blurred it a little bit with a soft brush. This technique gives the painting a really smooth, almost surreal feeling. Look at the lollipop – the hard edges give it a kind of graphic punch that contrasts with the haziness elsewhere. I keep thinking of Karen Kilimnik when I look at this piece. Both artists create these dreamy, kind of off-kilter worlds. But Johanna's got her own thing going on, a vibe that’s totally of the moment. With art, it’s never about copying, but more about this ongoing conversation, ideas bouncing back and forth, morphing and changing over time.