We’ve entered that funny point of summertime, some call it the Dog Days, I still refer to it as pre-season as all through school I played on the tennis team and our pre-season to the regular season would start around now. Whatever you call it, and wherever you’re from, you know that these are days whose heat make you want to strip down to your ribcage. These are days whose light is saccharine sweet and air is heavy and syrupy like honey. These days are no good for anything but dazing in the shade of an overgrown tree in the backyard, flat on your back, limbs thrown wide, considering the white-blue sky overhead.
Sometimes there are clouds to make shapes out of, but mostly, all there is is to watch the leaves of that tree up there, shimmering in the heat and ruffling in the breeze. No photograph or picture could better encapsulate these Dog Days than John Kilduff’s Under the Olive Tree #1. Experimenting with the interplay of spray paint, acrylic, and oil all together, John captures the searing heat and hallucinogenic-quality of the overhanging leaves, masterfully. I can think of no more appropriate piece to celebrate this week than Under the Olive Tree #1.
John Kilduff, Under the Olive Tree #1, 2020, Spray paint, acrylic, and oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches | Image courtesy of the artist