The Last Carnival

The “Last carnival” is an acrylic and mixed media artwork created by Lionel Thomas. It was painted in Geneva in 2021. What strikes upon a first glance, is how the main character in the middle occupies the space of the canvas. The limit between him and his external environment is very thin as if he was part of it and not separated from it. The use of vivid red and cyan blue convey a great dynamism in this painting. Small symbols resembling scriptures invade the canvas as if they were floating in the air. The boldness and rawness of the brush strokes suggest they are rather exploding than merely floating. The use of a painting knife creates this effect even more. All together, these elements compose an animated environment, in which the main character remains still. What is interesting about this painting is how this interaction between the subject and the environment creates a junction between impressionism and Neo-expressionism. Impressionism can be seen as the subjective impression of