Surprize #6 1980

George McNeil made this print, Surprize #6, using lithography, and the title feels right, doesn't it? Like a party you weren't expecting, with colours that pop and faces that grin and gurn all at once. There's a real physicality to the medium here, isn't there? Look at the way the red and yellow inks blend and separate, leaving a sort of crumbly texture, like dry pastels. The faces aren't neatly defined; they're built up from layers of marks, a bit messy, a bit raw. It's like McNeil is wrestling with the image, trying to pin it down, but it keeps slipping away. See how the green ink zigzags through the red on the face to the right? That frantic, almost scribbled line gives a real sense of energy and movement, like the face is vibrating with laughter or maybe something darker. Thinking about other artists, maybe someone like Guston, comes to mind, who also embraced this kind of bold, cartoonish figuration, but McNeil has his own distinct voice. His work shows that art is a conversation, not a monologue, a constant back-and-forth of ideas, influences, and interpretations.