PH-118 1947

Curator: This is "PH-118", an oil on canvas completed by Clyfford Still in 1947. Editor: Well, hello there, brooding landscape of the soul. The first impression I get is tension – this play between the heavy dark mass and those ethereal, almost flickering whites. Like a storm brewing on the horizon of my consciousness. Curator: That tension is quite deliberate. Still employs stark contrasts in color and texture to create a dynamic visual field. Notice the jagged edges, the way the black and yellow seem to tear into the canvas. The use of impasto in the yellow also brings the forms forward, intensifying that surface drama. Editor: I’m all about the surface drama. It’s almost violent, isn't it? These aren't gentle strokes; it feels like a struggle, like something is being wrestled out of the void. Is he saying something about post-war angst, do you think? I’m half-expecting it to start moving... Curator: Given the time it was created, a reading of post-war anxiety would certainly align with the themes prevalent in Abstract Expressionism. Still rejected traditional subjects and sought to express raw emotion through form and color alone. But rather than focusing solely on external historical events, Still delved into the internal. Think Nietzsche's void, perhaps. Editor: Oh, I like that. It is very Nietzschean – facing the abyss and painting what stares back. Those stark blacks are like the shadow self looming large, and those fragile whites—do they represent hope, redemption...or just a futile resistance? It reminds me of a stormy night. Curator: It also reveals his unique contribution to the Sublime: one not simply based on vast landscapes but an internalized vastness, as you keenly put it. By denying easy resolution or comforting forms, Still pushes the viewer into a space of profound contemplation. Editor: And he totally succeeds! This is the kind of work that stays with you. Like a song you can’t shake, it lingers, nudging at something unnamed within. The kind of raw honesty I wish my last studio performance would be like. Curator: Yes, and a prime example of art's ability to reflect, refract, and perhaps even redefine our internal worlds. Editor: Definitely a raw mirror for a complicated world and our even more complicated inner landscape. Beautiful and disturbing.