Family Misunderstanding 1969

Jules Perahim made this small oil painting called "Family Misunderstanding," and I find myself wondering about the nature of the misunderstanding. I mean, look at these two characters. One is grey, sort of pigeon-shaped, with a little yellow belly and an arm raised like he’s trying to explain something. The other is this creamy, crowned figure with a blue gem for an eye, looking away, maybe a little peeved. There's a certain playfulness in the way Perahim applies the paint. It’s not thick, but you can see the brushstrokes, especially in that intense red background. The two figures stand on a rainbow-striped platform. I think Perahim is inviting us to imagine our own narratives, our own family dramas. It's all there in the gesture, the color, the slightly absurd juxtaposition of these two figures. And that's the beauty of painting, isn't it? It's not about answers, it's about the questions we ask.