Le Parisien 2019

Curator: Today we are looking at Vincent Xeus's, Le Parisien. It's an acrylic on canvas painting that was completed in 2019. What strikes you first about this artwork? Editor: Immediately the raw texture and those assertive horizontal brushstrokes – there is an almost violent feel at odds with the subject's refined features. I wonder about the application of the acrylic, the energy exerted in its making. Curator: That's a really astute observation. It is fascinating to consider the artist's role here; Xeus presents a portrait with both delicate features and brutal textures, perhaps mirroring modern society's complex relationship with historical ideals and contemporary visual languages. What is the history here, the artist seems to ask. Editor: Yes, and look at how the medium itself contributes. The quick-drying nature of acrylic encourages a certain speed. It's not about capturing the likeness but constructing an image. This method is foregrounding the material process of painting. How might this speak to our understanding of labour and representation in modern society? Curator: Right! The way contemporary figurative paintings are consumed now becomes relevant. It speaks to an increasing demand and popularity for figuration now, a move away from mid-century abstraction, maybe, and into representation understood as political stance. Editor: I see it. But isn’t it about a more primary interest: how images are put together now? Xeus is literally showing his process. So the politics are less institutional and more inherent in how labor, performance, and ultimately, this painting's materiality are represented, or laid bare. Curator: A fascinating push and pull that I think we can take away, looking at this image. What do we desire to represent, what choices do we make, what kind of statements are we ready to discuss. Editor: I think Xeus prompts us to reflect on art-making. He offers up this beautiful figure, and yet it remains in pieces, and invites discussion through materiality, representation, and intention.