Stargazing 2021

Martine Johanna made this painting, called Stargazing, sometime in the 20th century, though it feels very now in its concerns. There’s something so interesting in the way the figure is broken up by blocks of colour, as if colour is another solid, material thing in the world. Look how the thick strokes of pale violet in the hair contrast with the opacity of the yellow hands. The yellow makes me think of sunbeams, or the kind of light we only see through closed eyelids. Then there's the surreal detail of the lower right, where it feels like the body has opened up to reveal another world inside. It feels very dreamlike, or like a memory unfolding. Someone like Ellen Berkenblit, with her hard-edged cartoon figures and equally intense colour palette, comes to mind. Ultimately, this piece reminds us that a painting is less about answers than it is about embracing the possibility of multiple, shifting realities.