Dimensions: support: 1908 x 2292 x 51 mm
Copyright: © Cecily Brown | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Right, let's talk Cecily Brown. This canvas, "Trouble in Paradise" is huge! It feels claustrophobic, like a party gone wrong, a total frenzy of bodies. What do you make of all that raw energy? Curator: It's interesting you use the word "frenzy". For me, Brown conjures a beautiful dance of the macabre. See how she flirts with figuration, then dissolves it back into abstraction? Editor: Totally, it's like she teases you with the possibility of figures, but never fully reveals them. Is she referencing something specific? Curator: Perhaps. I think she's inviting us to confront our own tangled desires and anxieties about pleasure. The dark background is pretty evocative, don't you think? Editor: Absolutely! It's like a stage for some kind of… primal drama. I'll never look at a party the same way. Curator: Precisely. The painting's a reflection of our own internal landscapes!
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/brown-trouble-in-paradise-t07606
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Trouble in Paradise hovers between representation and abstraction, between the depiction of figures engaged in an indistinct erotic act and a bravura display of gestural brushwork. Set against a dramatic black background, ribbons and swirls of warm colour cover almost the entire surface of the painting. The work’s elusive imagery encourages viewers to fill in the blanks with their own projected desires. ‘The place I am interested in is where the mind goes when it’s trying to make up for what isn’t there’, Brown has said. Gallery label, September 2008
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