Uruapan II 1955

Curator: Welcome. We’re standing before Aaron Siskind's "Uruapan II," a gelatin-silver print made in 1955. It's a piece that resides intriguingly on the edge of abstraction. Editor: It strikes me as almost melancholic, a very textural study of decay, or at least alteration. The monochromatic palette only amplifies that sense of… loss, maybe? What am I actually looking at? Curator: Siskind, often associated with Abstract Expressionism, photographed this image while in Mexico. The surface, seemingly a weathered wall, becomes a field for gestural marks. What appear to be windows covered in paint transform the architecture into something quite painterly. Editor: So, not so much a conscious composition then as a found abstraction? In that case, its artistic merit comes from the framing of that subject and in emphasizing it. The rough textures of the wall speak to layers of history, obscured but still present, that resonates powerfully within me. Curator: Exactly! He's elevating the mundane to the monumental. We must also recognize how such images operate within the photographic canon, expanding photography's accepted subject matter. In doing so, Siskind paved the way for other photographers to explore unconventional and banal subjects, thus challenging established perceptions of what constituted "photographic worth." Editor: The image raises questions, though, about erasure. Someone covered up these former windows with paint and for what? Were there political statements made there originally? What exactly got obscured? Curator: And what do we, the viewers, bring to its interpretation, right? The beauty here also lies in how Siskind captures the quiet revolution happening within abstract expressionist circles in art photography. He moves beyond mere documentation toward suggestion. Editor: Perhaps this piece demonstrates the artist’s hand in unveiling how the marks of oppression still live materially among the spaces we occupy? The gesture of obscuring carries potent symbolism when translated through today's lens. Curator: Ultimately, "Uruapan II" prompts discussions on historical visibility and photographic interpretation, proving to be so much more than just an image of an old wall. Editor: It serves as a powerful reminder to confront histories head-on rather than whitewash or obscure, just like the erased windows pictured. There is a strong interplay between photography, abstraction and visual activism present in this image.