Act II: The Voyage: And one day set foot upon an exotic Island 1980

Arthur Tress made this photograph, Act II: The Voyage: And one day set foot upon an exotic Island, and it’s like a stage set, a little world built from layers of artifice. There’s a painted backdrop of a tropical island, complete with a shipwrecked boat, and then, up front, a pile of fruit like a still life. The color palette is rich, almost theatrical. Think of that juicy watermelon red against the deep greens of the jungle scene, a playful mix of real and fake. The surface of the photograph is smooth, concealing how it was constructed, yet the image is bursting with tactile and visual detail. Check out the way the edge of the painted backdrop is torn, revealing the wall behind, and how that tear contrasts with the smooth, deliberate arrangement of the fruit. It's a reminder that everything we see is a construct, a performance. Tress's constructed images remind me of other artists, like David Hockney, who also play with the boundaries between reality and illusion. But Tress brings a particular kind of theatricality to his work. He is forever reminding us that art is a conversation, full of unexpected turns and delightful contradictions.