Construction 1969

Alexander Bogen made this painting, Construction, with oils probably sometime in the middle of the last century. I wonder how many layers there are? The more I look, the more I can imagine Bogen working and reworking it - adding shapes, and colors, and then covering them up. The blues are dominant - a cold blue, a warmer blue, and then these little spots of black, green, and red that peek through like little secrets. You can see how the painting is built up in layers, almost like he’s building a wall. That one brushstroke over there, see how the paint is thick and juicy? It’s like Bogen was really feeling it right there. He was in the zone, you know? I bet he was thinking about other artists, too. I always am! The way he builds the surface reminds me of Guston, but the colors remind me of Matisse. That's what I love about painting. It's like a conversation across time, with artists building on each other's ideas, pushing things forward. It's not about answers, you know? It's about asking questions. It's about the process of seeing and thinking and feeling.