Nothing to envy in the world 2015

Sun Mu, who was born around 1972, made "Nothing to envy in the world" in oil paint. The colours are brash, almost confrontational: the red ground against the bright pink of her dress. You can see the process, the painting's built up in layers. It's not trying to hide anything, the brushwork is visible. There's a tension between the subject matter and the way it's depicted; a strange mix of naivety and knowingness. Look at the way the pink of the dress is almost luminous against the red of the background, but look closer, and you see how the brushstrokes are clumsy, almost awkward. It reminds me of work by Tal R, who also has a similar way of combining vibrant colour with a deliberately crude handling of paint. For me, it’s a reminder that art is less about answers, and more about questions.