Untitled 1980

Chronis Botsoglou made this untitled painting with what looks like oil paint, and I'm drawn to how the colours feel both tender and a little raw, as if laid down in a single sitting. Looking closely, you can see the way the paint is built up in layers, thick in some places, thin in others, it gives the surface a real physicality. There is a visible tension between the quick, gestural brushstrokes and the delicate rendering of the figure's expression. The face itself is a maze of colors, mixed together, that somehow define a very specific emotion. The more I look at this face, the more I’m reminded of Alex Katz, but with a deeper sense of melancholy. Ultimately, it’s this sense of vulnerability and quiet introspection that makes Botsoglou's work so compelling. It reminds me that art is often less about answers, and more about embracing the questions.