Venus and Adonis 1981

Editor: Here we have Stephen McKenna's "Venus and Adonis," a large oil on canvas. It feels like a stage tableau somehow... melodramatic, even. What's your take on this scene? Curator: It’s a reverie, isn't it? McKenna dreams of a classical past, not as it *was*, but as a painter might *feel* it. Notice how the light is utterly even, like memory itself. Editor: Memory? Curator: Yes, a reconstruction, touched by melancholy. The boar is so solid, the grief so muted. It's not about the event, but its echo. Don't you think? It feels so personal, like he's painting a myth only he truly knows. Editor: I see what you mean; the tragedy is muted by the almost dreamlike quality. Thanks, that's a fascinating perspective. Curator: Indeed. Art whispers secrets; we simply have to listen.