Folder #01 2009

Pedro Calapez made this ‘Folder #01’ from a combination of acrylic and other media. I can imagine Calapez in the studio layering these colours one on top of the other, almost like a construction. These aren’t colours that you often see paired together, yet they somehow work, you know? There are elements of colour blocking, where Calapez clearly delineates the space with sharp contrasts and clear edges, juxtaposed against more gestural brushstrokes where the colours bleed into one another. Look how the thick texture of the paint lends a sculptural quality to the artwork, as though Calapez is building colour up and out of the canvas. These gestures are a record of his physical engagement, and the painting becomes a form of embodied expression. So much of painting is like a conversation with other painters. We’re constantly inspiring and building on each other's ideas, and who knows where that could take us?