Dana Schutz is renowned for her intricate visual storytelling frequently utilizing abstract motifs and uncanny scenarios on expressive canvases. In Spit, we see two children: one is pinned down and the other looks straight out at the viewer (the viewer who is witness to this aggression, but unable to intervene) while a string of saliva drips out of the aggressor’s mouth and onto the immobilized victim below. The spitter’s slitted, yellowed eyes seem snake-like adding to the disturbing emotionlessness of the uncanny scene taking place. Bright and blocky swaths of lively colors make up the background of the work which is somewhat at odds with the repulsive act taking place, and yet, this dissonance only serves to underscore the tension between these two figures.