artur, 18"x24"

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on January 4, 2017 at 10:33am

Curator’s Comment:

Artur is a wonderful portrait merging what appears to be the sacred with the ordinary. The metallic silver leaf in the otherwise commonplace landscape creates a jarring contrast. The blue trees somewhat serve to associate the two realms, linking fantastical color and space with the everyman’s checked shirt and suspenders. The parting of the thin brown poles/branches serves as both a path for the figure and entry for the viewer into the space, further creating a symbolic or special space of transition. I do find it interesting the face of the subject is rendered in graphite. The familiar drawing medium becomes strangely luminescent when viewed against the silver leaf; reflecting the shared metallic properties. While greater contrast of value and color exists in his garments, the man’s fixed expression suggests vague surprise or concern. His posture denotes direct openness, but not full trust. I find myself contemplating if the natural environment reflects a patch of altered or cultivated forest, or if it is an outright agricultural setting. We are brought into this changing world, but don’t know our place in it.