Credibility Gap 1991

Mark Kostabi made this painting, "Credibility Gap" in 1991, and it's, well, something. He’s using a grayscale palette that gives a real graphic feel, and the paint application looks super smooth, almost airbrushed. It feels calculated, like a process aimed at creating an image, rather than digging into the messy stuff of painting itself. Look closely, and you'll see a figure, kind of robotic, perched on some sort of contraption, hammering away. The surface is so clean, so devoid of texture, that it almost feels unreal. Take the lower part of the contraption. It has these serrated edges, sharp teeth, which are juxtaposed against the smooth, almost fleshy tones of the figure. It gives it all a strange, unsettling vibe, right? Kostabi reminds me a bit of Giorgio de Chirico, that surreal, dreamlike atmosphere, but with a cold, almost cynical twist. It leaves you wondering, like, what gap are we talking about here? What's being built or destroyed? That's the thing about art, isn't it? It's not about answers, it's about the questions that keep us thinking.