Untitled 2016

Editor: Here we have Ilya Isupov's "Untitled," created in 2016, rendered in watercolor. There is something undeniably odd about this image. The table setting, with its plentiful feast and mismatched plates, feels meticulously staged. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Primarily, I observe the calculated application of watercolor, achieving a compelling tension. Consider the juxtaposition of textures: the stark, almost naive rendering of the figures versus the meticulously detailed still life on the table. It's the artist's compositional choices that dictate how one interprets the painting. Editor: It almost feels like a collage of different styles and purposes combined. The texture of the table and water pouring off is especially striking. Curator: Precisely. The tension stems from the discordance between representation and material execution. Does the artist use this discordance as a method? Is it perhaps to signify a fragmented domestic scene? Look at how the table's surface transforms into water. Note the relationship between the pillows and the perspective of the table and how these are offset from the figures themselves. How do these elements converse with each other? Editor: So, you’re saying that the beauty is in the disconnect and the material properties. It’s more about how these components function on a surface? Curator: Indeed. It is in the considered tension between discordant formal elements where we unlock potential meanings. It is these material contrasts and their considered organisation that construct the experience of the painting. Editor: I see that tension much more clearly now! It really highlights the deliberate choice of the artist in every element of the composition, and allows for further consideration beyond any one meaning. Curator: Exactly. And that, ultimately, is the lasting power of Isupov’s "Untitled".