A Crouching Man Defecating and a Standing Man Urinating 1612 - 1675

Curator: Here we have "A Crouching Man Defecating and a Standing Man Urinating" created sometime between 1612 and 1675 by Micco Spadaro, also known as Domenico Gargiulo. It's an ink drawing. Editor: My initial thought? Raw and refreshingly unidealized. The economy of line, especially in the man who is crouching, presents such bodily realities in the most direct manner possible. Curator: Exactly. In the Baroque era, depictions of the body were often highly stylized, so Spadaro's focus on basic human functions is rather intriguing. It hints at a break from convention. Consider how casually these private moments are made public. It reflects a broader societal attitude perhaps, one less concerned with refined presentation at all costs. Editor: Perhaps. Or perhaps Spadaro was interested in elevating the materials themselves. Note the rapid strokes and how they give the figures weight. The darkness of the ink allows certain corporeal gestures to take on an independent agency. One thinks about where such marks come from, how they become records of fleeting instants of everyday existence through labor. Curator: That is definitely worth considering. Also worth examining is the symbolic language. Both figures are nude, but the way their bodies are presented differs substantially. One is earthbound, practically merging with the landscape through defecation. What of this man’s earthiness? How is it contrasted with the standing man's apparent aloofness? Editor: Good points! The standing man is presented quite elegantly considering the subject matter, no? The application of layered ink is intriguing. Was Spadaro drawing solely from observation or working from existing images? I find myself wondering about access to models, the cost of paper, and what other pieces might have been sketched on the same sheet. Curator: The sketch-like quality gives it immediacy. One gets the sense he captured something transient. Overall, what strikes me is this artist's openness to subjects considered low, yet revealing essential truths. Editor: It really encourages me to rethink how value is assigned. From the artist's physical labor to its consumption on paper to its subject matter, value shifts. Food for thought.