Contemporary Abstract Expressionism I Blush City

Soft blush pink and white set the tone of this painting, with dark navy and black cutting through them. The pink covers the upper right and the left side, and the white is laid on thick, especially through the centre and the bottom, where it fades into pale beige and cream. The dark marks give it structure. A navy and black block sits near the top centre, and from there smaller dark shapes step down the middle of the canvas like a ladder or a stack of buildings. More dark strokes gather in the lower left, pulled sideways in short horizontal bars, with a strong patch of cobalt blue among them. Small touches of gold and yellow sit beside the dark shapes, at the top, the right of centre, and lower down. The paint is knife-applied and dragged, so the edges are broken and the layers show through each other. The mix of horizontal bars and vertical drags gives it an architectural feel. It reads as a city reflected in water at dawn, rooftops under a pink sky, or boats stacked along a quay.