Kilimanjaro Bulls 1992

LeRoy Neiman conjured these 'Kilimanjaro Bulls' with a bravura of brushstrokes, all blazing color and bold gestures. The painting feels so immediate. It is like the artist was right there, smelling the dust and the grass, watching those giant, placid creatures moving slowly across the plain. Look how the yellows and blues of the sky bleed into the backs of the elephants. What a way to give weight and form to something so enormous! You can see the artist’s hand in the making, and the layering of the painting. It’s all about velocity and intuition. Neiman’s mark-making conjures the work of other painters such as Franz Kline or Joan Mitchell, who knew how to let the material qualities of paint speak. Painters are always in conversation with each other, across time and space, inspiring each other’s creativity. Painting is a space of ambiguity and uncertainty, where there can be multiple ways to see, think, and experience the world.