Joseph Nechvatal reviews Karel Appel at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, on view through January 11, 2016. The show will be on view at the Pinakothek der Moderne/Staatliche Graphische Sammlung from February 4 April 17, 2016.

Nechvatal writes: "Appel was one of our best, last bets on visceral enthusiasm, so if anyone can restore zeal to our stumbling world of art, devouring whole the evil spirits at play in the market, that artist or group of artists will have something of his fervor about them. To run wild under the banner of Appel is to ask how art is complicit or subversive in its social context. Art will always need something of his loose gesturing toward hidden animal forces — those forces that explain art as the process of tracing connections, attachments, and conflicts."