EXPECTATION 2016

Editor: Here we have "Expectation," a 2016 photograph by Babak-Matveev. There's a real tension between the vibrant background and the almost solemn figure in the foreground. What compositional elements strike you most? Curator: Initially, the clear demarcation between foreground and background. The foreground’s visual language conveys depth and weight through figuration and details of nature. However, the background rejects a believable perspective; flatness undermines realistic spatial relationships. The semiotic tension introduced when we view the photographic techniques combined with the figure causes us to question the message. Editor: The flatness does stand out, especially juxtaposed with the figure’s prosthetic leg, which has so much three-dimensional detail. How does that detail affect your interpretation? Curator: I am interested in how the subject interacts with both the artifice and material representation. The work draws the viewer to the symbolic charge through appropriation and staging. The color relations are discordant. I ask myself if the flatness challenges depth or suggests a space without the artifice of perspective. It becomes a pictorial rupture where signifiers detach from signifieds, yielding instability to conventional understanding. Editor: That makes me consider how the artist plays with the surface of the image itself, like how a painter might emphasize brushstrokes. What do you mean instability? Curator: It becomes a study of form. As the signifiers are dislodged, we question their common usage; consider the figure. Do the bouquet, the garment, the missing limb coalesce? This disorientation leads the audience away from familiar modes of consumption toward one that engages the senses as it does intellect. Editor: So, we must contemplate not just what is depicted, but also how the work asks us to examine our modes of perceiving representation and even beauty itself. Thank you! Curator: Indeed, a beautiful question.