She Smiles for the Camera

Private collection.

Enamel and silkscreen on linen.

The work reflects and continues the search done by Abstract Expressionists. Mostly such artists as Mark Rothko and Hans Hoffmann, who created works by applying overlapping layers of paint. This is a large-scale abstraction with complex layers of lines and outlines obtained by swabbing paints. Technically, this happens as follows: after spraying the enamel, the author removes parts of the picture with a cloth dipped in turpentine. The picture is part of the series of “gray works”, in which Wool began to recycle his things, combining the “traces of the last few moments of creation”. Thus, the images come back in new formats, so that they can be re-examined as part of evolving painting research. Wool is more innovative than Rothko and Hofmann, as he cares not only for the final result but also for showing the process of creating a picture, as well as the way it is replicated and digitally manipulated. For the artist, this is an act of “self-denial”.