MG 1692

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on September 30, 2013 at 5:37pm

Curator’s Comments:  

I feel like I’ve seen this image before.  Conceivably my vague feeling of familiarity stems from the light, practically luminous fur against the pitch black background. The animal appears as a perfect specimen. But rather than a didactic cataloging of species, he is elemental, as if he just stepped out of a dream, or the subconscious.  Essentially a straight on animal portrait, the contrasts of the surface textures heighten awareness of his corporeal presence, with only subtle inclusions of physical containment.  There’s also something interesting about the way his eyes are shielded by his hair- a direct stare per se, without eyes. 

I’m also attracted to the photograph (titled?/labeled) Hollyhock, but for its very different formal properties.  The evident solarization of the image creates a negation of form, or at least a minimizing reduction of details.  What remains of the plant appears  flame-like against the cool grey ground; an apparition of it’s true self.  I have mixed feelings about the grey bars moving into the picture plane on the right side.  At first they appeared to be unnecessary intrusions into the elusive organic plant, but they alternately provide visual counterbalance to the unusual composition.