Love at First Sight 

Mark Kostabi painted 'Love at First Sight', a scene of modern alienation, in 2021. The medium is acrylic on canvas, a choice that allows for the artist's signature smooth, almost airbrushed finish. The figures, rendered in a ghostly white, stand in stark contrast to the vibrant, flat planes of color. This direct application of acrylic creates a graphic quality, almost like a digital image, yet it's made by hand. Kostabi's process involves a calculated simplification. The smooth, uninterrupted surfaces speak to a desire for a sleek, manufactured look, reflective of our consumer culture. The shadows of the figures on the yellow wall are telling. They suggest a lost intimacy, a desire for connection in a world that often feels isolating. This painting is not about the skill of rendering, but the idea of reproducing the way the modern world feels: clean, synthetic, and often devoid of genuine human contact.