Calvino's II Barone rampante 1983

Editor: Here we have Aydin Aghdashloo's "Calvino's II Barone rampante" from 1983, a mixed-media piece. I'm struck by the...well, the foliage sprouting from his head. What are your thoughts? Curator: We need to consider the social fabric in which this image was made and consider the "mixed-media". Look closely— how does the combination of different materials contribute to the overall message about labour or production? Editor: I see how that might relate! It almost feels like two different artistic styles and potentially different labor processes have been mashed together, and then combined with plants growing out of the figure's head. Curator: Precisely. The artist intentionally blurred the boundaries between traditional art forms and craft, so let's dive deeper into Aghdashloo's methods. Can we see here a subversion or celebration of craft itself, challenging high art by emphasizing manual artistic labor and material? Editor: Subversion, I think. It feels deliberately unsettling. How does the depiction of Baroque styles in materials comment on power and art history? Curator: A keen eye! Think about how the piece critiques consumerism and commodification. Can you identify anything that is specifically baroque, though? I only see classical forms in the face itself, to be honest, and mostly classical influence tends to serve this very aim you're describing. What is being critiqued with it, and can it function in its current state? Editor: I think it's also playing with this contrast. Aghdashloo combines classical form and a strange fantasy-art motif. That must highlight the ways our understanding of art has changed based on its means of production and reception. This combination feels really impactful now! Thanks! Curator: You're quite right. We have highlighted the processes of combining different approaches, it’s crucial not only for understanding Aghdashloo's works but the very values they seem to question.