Jonathan Grossmalerman's 2015 ArtReview essay confronts mortality through painting

In May 2015, artist Jonathan Grossmalerman published a first-person essay in ArtReview detailing his struggle to create a painting about death. The piece opens with a vivid nightmare where Grossmalerman wrestles with personifications of mortality like Thanatos and Abaddon, only to wake entangled in sweat-soaked sheets. His studio assistant Neal interrupts, discovering drug paraphernalia and expressing concern. Grossmalerman reveals his preoccupation with death stems from his ex-wife Sylvie's explosive demise, documented in ArtReview's September 2013 issue. He contemplates abandoning his signature vaginal imagery to directly address mortality. The artist considers various visual approaches: depicting a dead person, a skull, a snuffed-out candle, rotting fruit, flies, or a clock. He worries a skull might evoke pirates rather than solemnity, while symbolic elements like candle smoke could be misinterpreted. Grossmalerman then proposes an inverse strategy—painting life's opposite to evoke death—before realizing his existing vaginal works might already engage with mortality. Ultimately, he settles on the skull motif despite reservations. The essay blends dark humor with artistic introspection, capturing Grossmalerman's chaotic creative process.