Provenance: Private Collection, Europe

ABOUT THE WORK

A first rule in appreciating an abstract (especially a minimalist Lao) painting is never to expect a window into some visible reality. Lao gives you what you do not see at first view. It doubly becomes ironic when the title given is “View.” You can be certain that it is not an objective view, much less an objectified view. The artist is not first a visionary but an explorer—an embodied or incarnate spirit who is a being-in-the world. With an inspired hand, the artist applies a few strokes to materialize not a vision of objects. If we are to follow the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty, the artist is an explorer who beckons us to enter a world more real than our everyday world—a world where we not only see but wander around to touch, hear, smell, and taste fleeting experiences of quiet energy that calm and invigorate us. (Leovino Ma. Garcia)