Untitled 

Curator: There’s something hauntingly beautiful about this “Untitled” oil painting, attributed to Zdzislaw Beksinski. The surface almost pulsates, doesn't it? Editor: Yes, immediately I notice the brown tones; they give it such an intense and unsettling presence. Almost oppressive in its density. It seems like more than just paint; what's the texture like up close? Curator: Thick, labored. You can see the way the oil has been built up, scraped away, reworked. The base materiality, and frankly the performative aspects of creation are front and center. I wonder what types of brushes or tools he may have used in order to obtain these textures. Editor: I think the texture heightens the dreamlike quality, a common trope in surrealism, which he clearly seems to draw from. How would a piece like this have been received in its own time? Was there much demand for such work outside the more esoteric art circles? Curator: Beksinski found recognition even when some critics initially dismissed him; there was, and still is, a market for emotionally jarring art like this. Looking closer, one may argue that the earthy materials mirror a landscape; what kind of statements are being made with this scene of the grotesque? Editor: I think that the lack of horizon adds to the psychological weight of the composition, as well as making it seem rather abstract and intangible. This makes it difficult to contextualize the piece; it makes me think about the influence galleries and cultural trends must've had on Beksinski, how his imagery might have been sculpted by what was, and what wasn't, marketable to the public. Curator: I think to reduce the work to marketability alone overlooks the intensity of the process involved in layering those paints to give it such depth and texture. The application techniques alone merit attention, not to mention his vision. Editor: Indeed, yet the institutional frameworks of the art world, the dealers, curators, even art historians – myself included! – undeniably influence not just reception, but creation itself. It makes you wonder if a painting so filled with existential dread such as this ever could have emerged in a more light-hearted social environment. Curator: I understand what you mean about it leaving an emotional imprint, however. It certainly feels like a commentary on something raw and unfiltered that cannot be easily accessed in this modern society that tends to value more pleasing content. Editor: In the end, perhaps this image allows us to consider not only the making and doing, but how a dialogue can begin across very different approaches.