Awu's Floral Fireworks

A commanding square canvas — fifty-one and a half inches in each direction — Awu's Floral Fireworks by John Richard arrives as both painting and object, its aluminum frame finished in black lending the work an architectural severity that only deepens the chromatic exuberance within. Oil paint on canvas is a medium that rewards scale, and here the proportions are generous enough to hold a room, to anchor a wall with the same authority as a piece of case furniture. The black metal surround acts as a full stop, containing the composition while simultaneously elevating it from mere decoration to considered acquisition. It is the kind of work that a room is designed around, not added to.