A fascinating thing about the “People-People” paintings is how contemporary they feel now. In the 1960s or 70s they may have looked like crowded urban expressionism. Today they can read as:

*social networks

*digital connectedness

*mass media feeds

*crowds at concerts or political rallies

*or even avatars floating in online space.

That is partly why Cucaro's work appears as oddly prophetic. The paintings compress individuality into collective motion — which mirrors modern life surprisingly well.

There is also an art historical bridge there:

-the crowd density of James Ensor,

-the fractured humanity of Willem de Kooning,

-the rhythmic urban abstraction of Richard Diebenkorn,

-and even hints of Pierre Alechinsky or Bay Area Figurative painters.

But Cucaro’s “People-People” works remain uniquely his because they never fully abandon the human figure. They hover right on the edge between abstraction and recognition. That tension is the hook.

The longer-format panoramic versions really transfer that feeling. Those genuinely surprise people and stop them in their tracks slack jawed.