Division 2017

Aaron Nagel made this painting, Division, with oils, and although the exact date isn't given, he was born in 1980. You can imagine him layering up the pigment with thin glazes and more substantial strokes, building up form with these beautiful tonal gradations. I wonder if the painter felt a sense of division themselves while working on this? Was he torn between objective representation and something more subjective? The surface of the painting is smooth, but that doesn't mean it lacks feeling. See how he captures the fall of light on those crumpled sheets. It reminds me a little of Gerhard Richter’s portraits, even Lucian Freud's—that struggle to both record and interpret what's in front of you. Artists are always wrestling with these things, passing ideas back and forth across generations.