The Figure in Contemporary Painting Domenico Maria Papa

Recognition is a key moment in the activity of observation: because it is possible to distinguish between the figure and
its surroundings, giving way to the seen. In recognition of this fact the figure remains primitive, although opening an artwork up to interpretation, it pushes representation to the sidelines, allowing for the meaning to be more ambiguous. In modern painting, the design of mimetic figures prefers a pure play of forms, but it appears as if artists are not looking for figures, only their forms. This may be understood as a third reality, the threshold between the world and the observer, which requires an active act of recognition.