Stars and Disasters (Astres et Désastres) 1969

Pierre Alechinsky made this print, "Stars and Disasters" and you can see in his process a real openness to experimentation, which is so awesome. The concentric circles pull you in, right? Each ring vibrates with its own color, blue giving way to green, then yellow, and finally, a red core. It's like looking into the heart of a flower, or maybe, as the title suggests, into the chaotic beauty of the cosmos. I love the textures Alechinsky coaxes out of the printmaking process. Look closely, and you'll see how each mark has a slightly unpredictable quality. The forms feel both controlled and wild, like the best kind of improvisation. This idea of art as a kind of visual thinking feels very related to the work of Joan Miró, both artists find ways to make the invisible visible! It's a reminder that art is always a conversation, a dialogue across time and space.