67 - PASCHKE ED (1939–2004) NEGRA. 1995. Oil on canvas. 101.50 x 178.50 cm. Signed and dated on the reverse: signature, title, and date. We thank Marc Paschke of the Ed Paschke Foundation for confirming the authenticity of the work.PROVENANCE: Galleria Galliani, Genoa (work acquired directly from the artist)Private collection, Genoa. A leading figure in the Chicago art scene and one of the most significant members of the Chicago Imagists, Ed Paschke developed a highly personal figurative language throughout his career, drawing inspiration from popular culture and the world of mass media. Influences drawn from comics, advertising, and the urban imagination were gradually complemented by an increasingly pronounced interest in television, video, and the ways in which technology alters the perception of the image. Created in 1995, *Negra* belongs to the mature phase of this artistic exploration. Against a chromatic field dominated by shades of yellow, three faces—or fragments of faces—emerge, subjected to various forms of alteration. The features appear distorted, superimposed, and traversed by unnatural colors: intense greens, blues, and reds transform the facial features into an almost electronic presence.The pictorial surface evokes the visual language of television screens: blurring, color shifts, and interference suggest an out-of-sync signal or an altered video image. In this way, Paschke translates the perceptual effects of electronic media into painting, accentuating the tension between recognizability and estrangement that characterizes his work. As Paschke himself stated: “The idea of electronically translating reality is a concept that has long fascinated me. Computer graphics, digital displays, X-rays, and video images punctuated by lines have influenced my way of seeing. Impressions, gestures, and impulses, viewed through the lens of artificial intelligence, have become part of our visual language. My paintings therefore address precisely this dialogue between Nature and Technology.”— Ed Paschke, quoted in *The 39th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting*, exhibition catalog, Washington, D.C., 1985.