Go Figure: Figurative Social Surrealist Paintings

Go Figure collects 44 “social surrealist” figurative paintings, spanning 1987–2023. All are in eye-popping color: many depict a crowd in observational tableaux, each figure a character by virtue of dress, body language, and interactions with each other, animals, and their setting. Other paintings reflect Colwell’s wide travels, and still others are surreal — such as “Junior and the Legs” (2023), which shows a young man strumming a guitar on stage, accompanied by disembodied women’s limbs. Each image has a narrative and a moral purpose—often, one figure bravely moves forward, despite a hostile crowd. In Guy Colwell’s world, no individual could ever be an island, just another part of a rich ecosystem.