Military School, 1984
Acrylic on black canvas, 136 × 220 cm
Painted using a single colour, yellow on black, the work relies on a process of chromatic reduction that heightens the intensity of light and contrast. In a dimly lit room, seated figures emerge from a muted, almost spectral yellow. Stripped of its natural warmth, the colour does not soften the scene. It makes it more tense, more silent.
The figures sit close to one another, yet each seems enclosed in their own world. The atmosphere is one of authority, discipline and restraint. From this proximity without exchange emerges a sense of gravity and solitude.
Military School explores what the collective imposes on the individual, and what remains private within a structure governed by rigour and discipline.
