The Barber and the Berber (Defiguration) 1962

Asger Jorn made The Barber and the Berber with oil paint, and well, it looks like he really went at it. I love the way the colors are slathered on, like he's wrestling with the image, trying to make it say something, or maybe unsay something. There's a figure in the middle that looks like a photographic portrait, and then this crazy abstract doppelganger looming over her. Look at the thick daubs of green and white that make up the Barber's face, how they seem to both reveal and conceal. The paint is so physical, so present, it's like you can feel the energy of Jorn's hand as he made each mark. And how does that relate to the woman's gaze, that kind of knowing, slightly unnerved expression? It makes me think of Francis Bacon, who was also interested in how the act of painting could distort and reveal the human form. Ultimately, Jorn's painting is a reminder that art is never really finished, it's always in process, always open to new interpretations.