El fin es el fin 2016

Requena Nozal made this painting, "El fin es el fin," with what looks like acrylic, or maybe even tar, building up a craggy, dark landscape. I can almost feel the artist's hand, pushing and pulling, creating these ridges. Maybe she was thinking about geological formations, or the way cities decay, a kind of inevitable entropy. Then, bam! This little orange figure is smack dab in the middle. What's that doing there? It's such a strange contrast – that pop of color against the somber background, like a tiny spark of life or defiance in the face of… well, the end. And with a title like that, it’s like she's not just talking about the end, but the cyclical nature of things, the constant process of ending and beginning again. You see echoes of Anselm Kiefer's textured surfaces, but with its own distinct, quirky voice. It's like artists are always in conversation with each other, riffing on themes and pushing the boundaries of what painting can be.