Untitled 2447 2009

Luis Feito made this painting, Untitled 2447, with broad gestural marks and a dramatic palette of reds, purples, and blacks against a stark white background. Imagine Feito in his studio, wrestling with the canvas, each stroke a deliberate act, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and pure intuition. I wonder what he was thinking as he flung those strokes of crimson and dark purple, building layer upon layer of emotion and energy. The paint looks thick in places, almost sculptural, clinging to the surface. Look at that swipe of dark red, how it bleeds into the white, creating a sense of movement, like a fleeting thought or a burst of feeling. Feito's work reminds me of other painters who embraced the physicality of paint, like de Kooning or even some of the Gutai artists. It is all part of an ongoing conversation among artists, across time, inspiring and challenging one another to push the boundaries of what painting can be. It’s like he is saying, "Here’s what I’ve got, what do you think?"