Pessoa on the Seashore

This is the most recent addition to “Identity Parade”, the series devoted to Fernando Pessoa.  It is one of a set of 20 x 24 inch canvases which I began in 2013.  The others came together quite quickly, but not this one.  Because I wanted both to tease out and impose an image (or three) it involved a deal of trial and error to try to find some kind of balance….  Why the make up of a picture should have overly complex intentions is questionable.  But whatever the reasoning behind it, the painterly task I (sometimes) give myself is to see whether an absurd set of criteria can hold together and still work as a painting.  I think this one does, it has a strange power – maybe, if you can bear with its narrative aspect, understand the characters involved and are able to stomach density, richness and colour – then it works.

oil on canvas
61 cm x 51 cm
2016