The Sunday Caller 1982

Conrad Marca-Relli made this painting, "The Sunday Caller," by sticking bits of canvas together, like he's building a picture instead of just painting it. It's like he's saying, "Hey, art is about process, not just the finished thing!" The colors are muted, mostly browns and tans, but then BAM! you get these stripes and pops of blue and red that just jolt you awake. Look at the way he uses different textures. Some parts are smooth, some are rough, and some are even made of newspaper clippings. It's like he's building a world out of scraps. That big brown V shape at the bottom, is that a pair of trousers? I dunno, but it anchors the whole thing and gives it this weird sense of gravity. Marca-Relli reminds me a bit of Kurt Schwitters, who also used found materials to make art. But while Schwitters was all about chaos, Marca-Relli feels more controlled, like he's carefully arranging things just so. Art isn't about having all the answers. It's about asking questions and leaving space for the viewer to fill in the blanks.