Potatoes 1989

Avigdor Arikha has built an image of potatoes with pastel, conjuring a world of earthy tones against a pale sky. You can almost see the artist, pencil in hand, circling, observing, trying to capture the quiet dignity of these humble vegetables. The marks build up a weight to the image, each stroke adding to the form. I can imagine the artist feeling the need to render the familiar unfamiliar by zooming right in, and by taking a strange perspective - and even by using pastel, which is really just pure pigment held together with a bit of glue. These are not just potatoes, they are the artist’s potato experience, full of concentrated seeing. Each mark seems to represent a thought, a decision, a moment of looking. It’s not just about depicting potatoes but about embodying a way of seeing. Arikha's potatoes are a reminder that painting is about how we choose to look, what we choose to see, and how we translate that onto a surface. It's all connected, across time.