Running Wild

“Running Wild” (2023) is the best example of the direct influence of the Swiss artist Paul Klee (1879-1940) on Jorge Blanco. Klee’s analyses of color theory were crucial to the growth of Surrealism, Dadaism, even the Pop Art movement, and Blanco ingeniously takes all those lessons to heart in this work. The moon-faced man that Blanco has utilized throughout his working life is duplicated in multiple colors, with several background shades between them, while never putting any color against itself even once.  The constant throughout the piece is the black circle of the eye on each figure, while the position of the body implies the rapid movement and fluidity Blanco does so well. Perhaps most impressive is the shrinking grey area forming most of the right side of the image, implying that these figures, in running wild, are bringing color and vibrancy to the world before them, a commentary on the legacy Blanco’s figure has bestowed upon the art world over the decades, the colorful life he has breathed into each work, with his imagination always running from one idea to the next.