The Assassin

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on July 3, 2012 at 6:08pm

Curator’s Comment:  

 

This is a very intriguing image.  (Perhaps with the July 4^th holiday approaching I’m taking more notice of imagery of family picnics and social interactions…)  At first glance the picnickers appear appropriated in a pop manner, commemorating the banality of mid-century suburban life.  But the inclusion of the snakes and cropped suggestions of others, as well as the cartoon like bird’s processions of eggs from nest to table suggest there is something else going on.  I really enjoy the formality of this piece- the way the squared picture plane is broken up with flat planes of color, and accentuated by “open” areas that aren’t filled in.  I also find the color palette somewhat dissonant.  It slightly diminishes and cools the jovial mood of the figures. The strange snake skin texture of the lone childlike tree in the background looks deliberately out of place, just as the dotted pattern of the table top consciously echoes the white line of eggs by design.  The denial of traditional perspective coupled with the unsettling juxtaposition of subject matter creates sardonic irony, rather than capitulates to our common notions of social expectation and etiquette.  I hope to see more of your work on the site.