Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Frank Black, 'The Angry Atlantic'.



Paul Dorsey, who is a huge fan of the late Frank Black's art, posted this work on his site, 'The Dali House'. (click here)

I find myself drawn to paintings about the sea. It could be a romantic thing. It could be The primal, relentless energy of the sea. It could be the the wonder of what is beyond the horizon, or it could be that it represents challenge for human conquest.

I don't know, but Frank Black so dramatically captures all of this and more in this work. There is a richness of colour and drama in this work and a path of foam that leads us from the bottom through a passage in the rocks out into the ocean. I like how Black evokes the powerful energy the waves as they crash against the rocks.

Sometimes too, the less shown the better. The sky is purposefully nonediscript. It doesn't draw the viewer's attention away from the ocean surface.

But look at the drama! Black's effective use of conrast between the large, dark rocks on the left and the whiteness of the foam gives this work its punch. What a painting!

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