Atlas 1988

Curator: This striking piece, "Atlas," created by Boris Vallejo in 1988, powerfully depicts the mythological Titan. The medium appears to be oil paint, with possible touches of acrylic. Editor: The sheer muscle definition jumps out immediately! The rendering is almost photographic, yet hyper-real. And what about the scale of the figure and the celestial orb? Overwhelming is an understatement. Curator: Absolutely, the artist amplifies the heroic burden. Atlas is forever burdened, eternally holding up the heavens. The exaggerated musculature is central to conveying that. I read the work as a visual exploration of themes such as responsibility, sacrifice, and the weight of destiny, resonating through a Western understanding of existentialist burdens. Editor: I am more intrigued by what wasn't employed – or even consciously available to Vallejo at that moment in history. How does the artist manage the smooth rendering across this immense surface? There has to be industrial support, such as airbrushes and mass produced canvas materials in the mix. What type of priming agent does he use here? Also, consider the availability of those oil paints and mediums. It reflects a particular period in industrial capitalism that values specific qualities. Curator: That's interesting - you consider not just the finished work, but its origins and historical setting. My impulse is always to locate the images that persist, like Atlas, from a collective memory. You’re pointing out how this work and symbol have a modern-day setting shaped by particular industrial components. Editor: It is like an illustration with its strong contrasts between light and dark that produce something almost heroic. Yet I don't see just myth in those figures— I perceive labor. Labor for those industrial manufacturers as well as for the hero burdened to repeat his cycle forever. Curator: So you see the Atlas myth as both a personal and collective burden, influenced by manufacturing trends that dictate what materials the artists might select. It reframes that enduring image and myth to suggest how culture and memory may change. Editor: Exactly, culture evolves but, perhaps more significantly, materials too undergo endless development.