Head with mustache 1926

Editor: This is Jean Arp's "Head with Mustache," painted in 1926. It's oil on paper, and quite striking in its simplicity – just these cool blues and whites in geometric shapes. It's so pared-down... how should we interpret this portrait? Curator: Well, let's think about Dada, and Arp's role within that movement. He was consciously rejecting traditional artistic skill, wasn't he? Oil paint allows for smooth gradients here, softening forms; the support is "just" paper, a throwaway material. Are these refined or vulgar decisions, or neither? What does the seeming contradiction say about Dada’s values in practice? Editor: So it's a commentary on artistic conventions themselves, in its use of material and technique. The "high art" medium, versus the "low art" material. It feels playful in that way. Curator: Exactly! Arp uses these contrasting textures to question what constitutes "art," challenging the very system that upholds certain materials as superior. The labor of blending the paints is deliberately downplayed here in contrast to say, the old masters. Are the tools and resources used available to everybody, and what statement is he making by limiting it? Editor: I hadn’t considered the implications of materials and how they tie into those kinds of values. I learned a lot about what materiality represents within that movement. Curator: And think of what this conveys, materially: he undermines expectations around painting and artistic labour at that time, offering a different perspective and method that can apply today!