Night Watch 2011

Editor: Here we have Arsen Savadov’s "Night Watch," created in 2011 with mixed media including oil paint. It feels almost theatrical, with its constructed artifice. What strikes you most about it? Curator: Immediately, I'm drawn to the artifice you mentioned. Consider the title, "Night Watch"—evoking Rembrandt. Savadov uses the historical weight of painting and portraiture, but reframes it through materials and process. It’s less about individual psychology, and more about examining the means of image production itself. What materials are used, and to what effect? Editor: Well, I see oil paint for sure, but it's applied so thinly in places it's almost like a wash. And then there's a glossy sheen, maybe from a varnish or some other mixed medium? It doesn't feel as precious as traditional oil painting. Curator: Precisely! He's deliberately disrupting traditional notions of skill and artistic labor. This 'unfinished' quality points to a contemporary approach to production, challenging the value we place on 'mastery'. How does this material treatment relate to the subject matter itself? Editor: I guess the figures being nude and partially painted contribute to this sense of ‘deconstruction’ of classical painting conventions. They appear staged, like models in a studio rather than idealized figures. And the juxtaposition of these ‘high art’ allusions with something like the lunar stage prop and even the title points towards questioning the relationship between labor and consumer culture, or kitsch even… Curator: Exactly! By explicitly displaying the apparatus and material construction of the scene, Savadov compels us to consider not only *what* is being depicted, but also *how* and *why* images are made and consumed within a broader economic structure. It reflects our post-soviet Ukrainian condition today where access to goods, power, and culture are hyper visible… Editor: This material-focused perspective really opened up a new way for me to read this painting, considering the labor and materials involved in creating and viewing art itself. Curator: Indeed. By focusing on these aspects, we gain insights into how art reflects and shapes cultural values surrounding production, value, and even taste.