Magic Slit No. 5 Painting

In search of high-quality but inexpensive paper and canvas for my paintings, I ventured into a curios shop hidden away in the Lower East Side of New York City. The shopkeeper, a wizened Warholian warlock, said that if I would instead pay double the list price for some pre-colored canvas and paper that he’d kept sequestered away for a century, I’d be enchanted by something truly special. Intrigued, I agreed. He told me that to discover the wonder, I’d have to be sharp. And dig deep. Act all cutting-edge. Back in my studio, I tried for weeks, then months, to unlock the secret, to no avail. Frustrated, I one day muttered a complex imprecation, furiously gashed the paper with a box cutter… and Lo! Out gurgled a color unlike any I’d ever seen, which spread whither it wanted across the surface, creating runic forms. The shop has since disappeared (the street, too!), and my supply of these ensorcelled surfaces, alas, is now running low. So I’m glad the ritual works almost every time: a foul-mouthed mantra, a slash and then behold: a magic slit from which miraculous hues ooze. Artist: Bryant Rousseau, who is a senior editor at The New York Times by day, and a conceptual artist working across all mediums by night. Acrylic paint and thaumaturgy on 11” x 14” canvas; signed verso The copyright symbol is a digital watermarks only; it does NOT appear on the actual artwork. Note to necromancers and paranormal investigators: The slit itself is perfectly healed by the color that erupts from it.