Blue Matisse 1986

Editor: This mixed media graphic art piece is "Blue Matisse," created by Hervé Télémaque in 1986. It strikes me as very playful with its explosion of color and layered shapes. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: Well, first off, consider the title. "Blue Matisse" directly references Henri Matisse, specifically his cut-outs. Télémaque is consciously engaging with art history, but doing so through the lens of the materials and production methods available to him in 1986. Editor: How so? Curator: Think about it: Matisse, limited by his physical condition, literally cut and pasted painted paper. Télémaque, on the other hand, uses a combination of acrylic paint and possibly screen-printing – means of production that allow for mass reproducibility, riffing off Pop Art’s love for it. See how he is also using text, words and graphic art techniques within the same plane? Editor: Ah, so he's commenting on the changing relationship between artist, medium, and audience? Bringing those reproducible means to make the art as opposed to reproduce an image. Curator: Precisely. Also consider what Télémaque gains and loses using different materials. Is it more reproducible? Yes. However, does that add a level of mechanical detachment? Do those methods create an image or manufacture one? Editor: That makes so much sense! I’m now noticing the references and starting to see a critique of art production itself, not just an homage to Matisse. Curator: Exactly. It pushes us to think about how the act of creation is bound up in social context and technology. What new thoughts does this material understanding gives to your ideas? Editor: It gives it even more possibilities and other readings into an artists perspective.