Sissi 2021

Curator: Here we have "Sissi," an oil painting on canvas crafted in 2021 by Vincent Xeus. A compelling modern take on portraiture, wouldn't you agree? Editor: It's dreamlike, almost melancholic. The soft focus and muted palette give it this otherworldly quality. And there’s a stillness; she feels paused, suspended somehow. Curator: Absolutely. Xeus's application of paint –notice the visible brushstrokes, the impasto in the highlights – is crucial to understanding its effect. It’s a textural landscape as much as it is a portrait, breaking up the figure into planes of color and light. Editor: You know, that almost broken quality you describe…it reminds me of how we piece together memory. Fragments of feeling and color. There is something of that at play here. It avoids sentimentality but still evokes strong emotions, doesn't it? The limited tonal range gives a somber contemplative tone to the picture. Curator: Indeed. And it’s figurative work, yet resists narrative. “Sissi” doesn’t gaze back at the viewer; her eyes are closed, she's turned away. She isn't inviting you into her world but drawing you closer to her essence. Editor: So true! What is it about realism, though? This style – as present as ever! This drive to represent the world as we perceive it. The interesting part to me is what the artist does with this foundation. Xeus seems more interested in a different kind of realism: that of the interior landscape made visible through paint. Curator: Precisely. He's giving us more than just a likeness. He's hinting at inner weather through the deliberate choice of colors and textures. Ultimately, the work embodies so many contradictions, its delicate handling paired with those blunt brushstrokes, is an intriguing balance, really. Editor: Right! It's this paradox that truly engages me. This feels like less of an objective recording and more of a kind of echo –an impression left on the artist that, through material practice, is now offered to us. Thank you. Curator: It's a pleasure. Come with me now to the next artwork.