Untitled (Head)

Francis Newton Souza immigrated to New York in September 1967 and began to experiment with new techniques, styles and new materials. This work marks the commencement of Souza's most abstract moment. Whilst Souza would always retain a fidelity to figuration, in this painting the pronounced architectonic black line recedes to the bottom foreground of the painting. This abstracted portrait bust, silhouetted against a color field of monochromatic spray paint, signals a dramatic shift from Souza's more formalized imagery seen in some of his earlier work. Whilst the prevalent techniques of Abstract Expressionists are apparent, unlike the color field contemporizes such as Rothko, Souza never relinquishes the constitution of his paintings to total abstraction; even here the figure anchors the composition.

The material characteristics of spray paint would have required Souza to adjust his painting techniques from the compulsive and deliberate, aggressive strokes emanating from his brush in favor of a less controlled point-and-shoot technique. Although requiring a systematic mist to ensure an even application of paint, spray paint also possessed the possibility of surprise in the uncontrollable moment in time when the vaporized paint particles settle on the painting's surface. The interplay between Souza and the "moment suspended" confirms that his mastery of technique allowed him to engage in the action of automatism, a notion at the very core of the Abstract Expressionist movement, without ever actually relinquishing control of his composition.