Slate 1980

Friedel Dzubas made this painting, Slate, with big, confident gestures and a surprisingly muted palette. Imagine Dzubas, brush loaded, stepping up to the canvas. What’s he thinking? Probably not thinking too much, just feeling his way through the space. He starts with that atmospheric brown, like a stormy sky rolling in. Then, bam! That vertical slash of red, so bold, so unapologetic. It's almost like he is saying, "Here I am!" I love how the pinks and blues at the bottom feel both grounded and floating, like memories or dreams. Each colour, each shape seems to push against the others, creating this weird tension that keeps your eye moving. It reminds me a bit of Helen Frankenthaler's soak-stain paintings, but with more guts, more oomph. For me, Slate is about the artist’s journey, that back and forth between intention and accident, control and surrender.