Krefeld Project Bathroom Scene 2 2003

Eric Fischl made this painting, Krefeld Project Bathroom Scene 2, with oil on canvas, and the loose brushstrokes are right there on the surface for you to see. Fischl isn't trying to hide how this thing was made; he invites us into his process, so to speak. I mean, just look at the colors. The way he builds the figures with these fleshy pinks and reds, offset by the cool blues and greens of the bathroom. It’s as if he’s trying to capture the intimacy and discomfort of being in one's own skin, or in this case, in one's own bathroom. The paint is applied in such a way that it almost feels like you can feel the water, the steam, the slickness of the shaving cream. Fischl reminds me a little of Alice Neel, in the way he’s able to capture the raw, unfiltered humanity of his subjects. He’s not interested in idealizing or romanticizing; he's all about the real, the awkward, the vulnerable. And that’s what makes his work so damn compelling.